Final Fantasy Hacktics

Modding => Non-FFT Modding => FFTA/FFTA2 Hacking => Topic started by: Eternal on February 12, 2013, 01:48:41 am

Title: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 12, 2013, 01:48:41 am
So, since there are finally some FFTA2 tools out, namely the Job and Ability editors, I've begun work on a version of GG for FFTA2 akin to the version being made for FFTA. In fact, most of the changes are exactly the same! The goals are the same as well: to remove broken abilities and rebalance things for a more refreshing gameplay experience. Naturally, not as much can be done with A2 as can be done with FFTA (yet), but I'm already about 33% done with the project. Most abilities are already rebalanced, and I've begun work on job editing. Item editing will come next, once Lennart releases his fancy-schmancy item/auction editor.

In the meantime, here's the current changelog of what's been done so far. Absolutely no testing has been done yet, so this isn't even an Alpha yet.

Human Job Changes:
-Archer Move down to 3.
-Paladin Move down to 3.
-Hunter Move down to 3.
-Dragoon Jump up to 4.
-Sage Move down to 3, Jump down to 2.
-Scholar Move down to 3.
-Sniper Move down to 3.
-Ranger Move down to 3, Jump down to 3.
-Geomancer Move down to 3.


Monster Job Changes:
-Most monsters now have improved Move/Jump.
-Sprites/Banshees may now Teleport and are Immune: Earth.
-Malboros are now Neutral: All Elements and are Immune: Debuffs.
-Alraunes are now Neutral: Wind.
-Deadly Nightshades are now Absorb: Water.
-All breeds of Chocobos are now Neutral: All Elements.
-Bombs are now Weak: Water, Resist: Ice, Absorb: Fire, Immune: Earth.
-Ghosts are now Immune: Earth.
-Deathscythes are now Immune: Earth.
-Headless are now Neutral: Wind.
-Golems are now Absorb: Earth.

Special Job Changes:
-Penelo's Move is down to 3.
-Vaan's Jump is up to 4.
-Heritor Adelle's Move is down to 4, Jump is up to 4.
-Al-Cid may now change jobs, Move is down to 3.
-Illua may now Teleport, has had a boost to HP, Speed, and Resilience.


Item Changes:
-Hi-Potions now heal 50 HP.
-X-Potions now heal 100 HP.
-Ethers now heal 20 MP.
-Phoenix Downs now only kill Undead units at a 50% rate.
-Eureka Crystal no longer restores HP.
-Grimoire Crystal no longer restores MP.
-Mirrored Potions/Hi-Potions/X-Potions/Ethers now deal half damage.
-Mirrored Phoenix Downs/Golden Needles/Maidens Kisses/Bandages now hit at 25% accuracy.
-Mirrored Echo Grass/Holy Water/Antidote/Eye Drops/Handkerchiefs now hit at 50% accuracy.
-Mirrored Remedies now inflict two random debuffs at 50% accuracy.
-Mirrored Eureka Crystals no longer damage enemies.
-Mirrored Grimoire Crystals no longer deal MP damage to enemies.

Scions:
-Belias/Mateus/Adrammelech/Hashmal/Famfrit/Cuchulainn/Zalera/Chaos/Ultima now deal -ra level damage.
-Zeromus now has perfect accuracy.
-Exodus now deals -ga level damage in a large AoE.
-Shemhazai now deals -ga level damage to a single enemy and will inflict Silence and Addle.
-Final Eclipse is now Dark Elemental.

Soldier:
-First Aid now imbues Regen on self as well as minor healing.
-Provoke Range is increased to 3.
-Mug Gil now deals normal weapon damage.
-Gauge now inflicts Defense Down, Resistance Down, and Resilience Down.
-Gauge's Range is reduced to 1.

White Mage:
-Raise MP cost up to 20.
-Raise will now only kill Undead units at a 50% rate. Arise retains a 100% Undead kill rate.
-Arise MP cost up to 50.
-Refresh MP cost up to 24.

Black Mage:
-Fire magic is now 33% weaker, but has 2 AoE.
-Thunder magic is now 33% weaker, but has 2 more Range.

Archer:
-Focus now adds Accuracy Up as well as boosting damage.
-Burial now has normal accuracy.

Paladin:
-Parley range increased to 4.
-Saint Cross now costs 0 MP, but its power has been reduced.

Fighter:
-Air Render's Power has been reduced, and it is now Wind Elemental.
-Aurablast's Power has been greatly reduced.
-Air Blast's Power has been reduced.
-Backdraft's Power has been greatly reduced, and it is now Non-Elemental.

Parivir:
-Iai Blow's Range is reduced to 1.
-Blade Bash's Range is reduced to 1.
-Each of the elemental Blade Techs now do normal damage.
-Unburden Soul now has 5 Range and fully restores an ally's HP at the cost of one's own life.

Ninja:
-Throw's Range has been reduced to 3.
-Ninjutsu is now 0 MP, deals normal damage, and has an AoE of 1.

Illusionist:
-All Illusion magic is weaker, but costs less MP to cast.
-Starfall is now Dark Elemental.

Blue Mage:
-White Wind's MP cost has been increased.
-Angel Whisper's MP cost has decreased, and it now bestows Regen rather than Reraise.
-War Dance's MP cost has been increased, and it now bestows Attack Up to allies 2 AoE around self.
-Cornered now deals damage equal to the user's Max HP when at 1 HP.
-Matra Magick now deals HP and MP damage to an enemy.
-Self Destruct's MP cost has been increased, it is now Fire Elemental, and it deals damage equal to lost HP.

Hunter:
-Sonic Boom now deals half damage, and its Range is reduced to 3.
-Advice Range up to 4.
-Hunting now deals 50% damage rather than 25% damage.
-Sidewinder now costs 10 MP.
-Ultima Shot has been removed.

Seer:
-Recharge now heals 10 MP.
-Magick Frenzy has been removed.

Warrior:
-Lifetap is now Dark Elemental.

White Monk:
-Chakra now has 1 Range, no longer cures debuffs, but now heals a small amount of MP.
-Holy Sign now removes buffs and debuffs.

Dragoon:
-Wyrmtamer Range has been increased to 4.
-Fire/Ice/Thunder Breath have been given a reduction in Power.
-Bangaa Cry has been given a reduction in Power.

Defender:
-Rend Weapon is now Weapon Range.
-Hibernate now fully restores the user's HP along with its old effects.
-Mow Down now renders the user immobile next turn.
-Aura's MP Cost has been reduced and now imbues Astra instead of Reraise.

Gladiator:
-The elemental strikes have been given a reduction in Power.
-Ultima Sword has been removed.

Master Monk:
-Each hit of Pummel now has reduced accuracy.
-Dark Fist is now Dark Elemental.
-Inner Focus now bestows Resilience Up and Resistance Up on the user.
-Rend Armor is now Weapon Range.

Bishop:
-Dispel's MP Cost has been reduced, and now has 4 Range.
-Holy is no longer AoE, but now has 4 Range.
-Barrier's Range is up to 4.
-Water's Range is up to 4.
-Aero's Range is up to 4.
-Break's Range is up to 4.
-Pilfer now drains MP from an enemy and has 4 Range.

Templar:
-Astra's AoE is down to 0.

Cannoneer:
-Potion Shell now restores 50 HP.
-Ether Shell now restores 20 MP.

Trickster:
-Trickster skills now cost 0 MP.
-Suggestion now inflicts Confuse.
-Traumatize now has normal accuracy.

Time Mage:
-Hastega MP Cost up to 24.
-Quicken now imbues Evasion Up.

Alchemist:
-Protometeor MP Cost up to 38, now has 2 AoE and 4 Range.
-Flare MP cost up to 25, now has 4 Range.
-Poison AoE up to 2.

Arcanist:
-Gravity is now Dark Elemental, has 1 AoE.
-Graviga is now Dark Elemental, has 1 AoE.

Sage:
-Scathe's Power has been reduced.
-Gigaflare's Power has been reduced.
-Bio is now 0 AoE.
-Ultima Blow is now 99 MP, 4 Range, and 2 AoE.

Keeper:
-Shadowflare is now Dark Elemental.

Beastmaster:
-Control Range up to 4.

Fencer:
-Swarmstrike now deals full damage.
-Checkmate MP Cost up to 8.

Green Mage:
-Sleep AoE down to 0.

Elementalist:
-White Flame no longer heals MP, now cures some minor debuffs.

Red Mage:
-Doublecast has been removed.

Summoner:
-Summons now smart target.
-Unicorn no longer cures debuffs.
-Ramuh/Ifrit/Shiva/Maduin have had a reduction in Power.
-Kirin no longer does anything to the Undead.
-Phoenix is now Fire Elemental, does nothing to the Undead, and revives allies with 1 HP.

Assassin:
-Shadowbind now costs 0 MP, but inflicts Immobilize.
-Last Breath no longer heals Undead.
-Aphonia now costs 0 MP.
-Ague now costs 0 MP.
-Ultima Masher has been removed.

Sniper:
-Doubleshot MP Cost up to 15.
-Death Sickle MP Cost up to 20.

Animist:
-Sheep Count AoE down to 0.
-Catnip MP Cost down to 0.

Moogle Knight:
-Moogle Lance MP Cost up to 10.
-Ultima Charge has been removed.

Fusilier:
-Charmshot/Confushot/Stopshot have a lowered status proc rate.

Juggler:
-Dagger Toss now adds Poison rather than Disable.
-Smile Toss now adds Regen rather than Quick.
-Gil Toss has been removed.

Tinker:
-Black Ingot now inflicts Addle on a random party rather than Doom.
-Chroma Gem now inflicts Silence on a random party rather than Sleep.

Chocobo Knight:
-Chocobo Recharge now heals 20 MP.
-Chocobo Barrier now also adds Regen.

Flintlock:
-Prime is no longer needed to use their skillset.
-Prime now bestows Critical Up, Accuracy Up, and Attack Up on the user.
-Ether Cannon now requires 40 MP to transfer 40 MP to an ally.
-Teleport Cannon now has perfect accuracy.

Berserker:
-Scream is now Berserk on self.
-Smash's Power has been reduced.
-Helm Smash's Power has been reduced.

Raptor:
-Full Assault's Power has been slightly reduced.

Sky Pirate:
-Trophy Hunt now deals normal damage, but costs 12 MP.
-Life of Crime now deals normal damage with a chance of adding Blind and Silence.
-Razor's Edge now also boosts Accuracy and grants Vanish to self.

Dancer:
-Mincing Minuet affects all foes.
-Forbidden Dance affects all foes and may add either Poison, Silence, Immobilize, or Blind.
-Slow Dance affects all foes and may add either Slow or Speed Down.
-Witch Hunt affects all foes.
-Polka affects all foes and may add either Attack Down or Defense Down.
-Heathen Frolick affects all foes and may add either Magick Down or Resistance Down.

Bard:
-Requiem affects all Undead foes at 25% accuracy.
-Angelsong heals all allies.
-Battle Chant affects all allies and may add either Attack Up or Defense Up.
-Magickal Refrain affects all allies and may add either Magick Up or Resistance Up.
-Nameless Song affects all allies and may add either Protect, Shell, Regen, or Haste.
-Magick Ballad affects all allies.
-Soul Etude affects all allies and has a 25% chance of adding Quick.

Heritor:
-Viola Range reduced to 4, accuracy improved to 50%.
-Ljda now inflicts Charm, Doom, and Quick.
-Adelaide now adds Reraise as well as Regen.

Nightshade:
-Abyssal Slash Range/AoE up to 4 Linear.
-Time Blade now adds Slow.
-Saber now adds Critical Up and Evasion Up.
-Dimensional Rift now has perfect accuracy.
-Annul Range up to 8.
-Sheol now adds Haste and Reraise on Illua's party and Slow and Speed Down on Luso's party.
-Rebirth now also boosts Illua's stats and grants temporary Invincibility.

Monsters:
-Meteorite Range up to 4.
-Level ? Holy's accuracy is now normal.
-Twister is now Wind Elemental and has halved accuracy, rather than quartered accuracy.
-Eternal Oblivion now adds Silence.
-Fangs may now add Confuse.
-Slug now has normal accuracy.
-Cannibalize now also fully restores the user's HP and MP and grants Reraise.
-Suffocate will now also add Immobilize if its primary effect of CT00 lands.
-Rain of Stone now has 2 AoE.
-Goo now has a Range of 4.
-Horn Shot now deals 50% damage rather than 25% damage.
-Tomato Tackle may now add Immobilize.
-Tomato Ketchup will now add Blind if Berserk lands.
-Menace Range up to 4.
-Flame Attack Range up to 4.
-Spark MP Cost down to 0, is now Fire Elemental.
-Miasma is now Dark Elemental.
-Shackle MP Cost down to 0.
-Steal Thoughts MP Cost down to 0.
-Death Dive Range up to 3.
-Binding Circle Range up to 4, MP Cost down to 0.
-Dread Range up to 4.
-Bewitching Glance MP Cost down to 0.
-Brute Strength now adds Attack Up as well as Focus.
-Sunder Earth MP Cost down to 0.
-Fireball may now add Oil on hit.
-Ice Orb may now add Slow on hit.
-Lightning may now add Immobilize on hit.
-Dark now may add Blind.
-Darkra now may add Doom.
-Darkga now may add Death.
-Invert Accuracy up to 50%.

Boss Monsters:
-Draw In MP Cost down to 0.
-Gravity Flux MP Cost down to 0.
-Gravija AoE up to 2.
-Nectar Volley may now also add Speed Down on hit.
-Telega MP Cost down to 0.
-Shining Darkness MP Cost down to 0.
-Grand Cross' Power is increased and it now inflicts two random debuffs.
-White Hole may now inflict Petrify.
-Dispelja will now kill any unit after removing its buffs, but only if it was buffed to begin with.
-Apocalypse now inflicts Doom in 2 AoE.
-Gigadust MP Cost down to 0.
-Catastrophe MP Cost down to 0.
-Primary Weapon now has perfect accuracy.
-Secondary Weapon now deals more damage.
-Beguile AoE up to 2, now has perfect accuracy.


Stat changelog coming tomorrow!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 15, 2013, 03:04:09 pm
The testing process has begun and it's been fairly smooth so far. Slight issue with Warriors not being able to learn anything for whatever reason, but I'll deal with that later.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Lennart on February 15, 2013, 05:28:16 pm
If this is an issue with one of my editors, I can look into it. There could be some bug which changes values without you knowing which would be terrible. I personally don't see a reason why Warriors should be messed up with your changes so I'm thinking there's something wrong with the editor. That or you flicked some unknowns by accident. You can send screens of all the Warrior things you've changed.

Otherwise, you've done a good job where I haven't. Things are heating up with examinations and I want to try my hand at some other JRPGs and maybe have a crack at one of my life's goals. Hacking isn't very high on my priority list but as I mentioned, if there's a bug in the editor I'll try to fix it ASAP.

Actually, I'll wait on this bug report. Because if there's a bug in the this tool, there will be a bug in the next one as well. You're the only one who really uses these things so I'm counting on you.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 15, 2013, 05:44:57 pm
I didn't alter any unknowns, much less with Warriors. Attached are some screenshots which will hopefully show what I mean by them unable to learn A-Abilities. Oddly, they can still learn Shieldbearer from Bronze Shields. Also, Cid's a Warrior, and he can't use anything either.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Shrikesnest on February 16, 2013, 11:59:15 am
This looks pretty fantastic.  If I may offer a little constructive criticism, I'm a bit worried that you're removing the entire reason to *be* a couple of these classes.  Without Magick Frenzy, Seers basically just have Recharge.  As far as Jugglers go, without Quick and Disable I can't imagine any reason I would ever make one.  Without increased power on basically any of their moves, I don't really see any reason to make a Fighter over a Paladin, and removing the elemental affinity from Backdraft makes the fighter's whole kit less interesting; combining self-damage with elemental absorption is the kind of clever play that ought to be rewarded, in my opinion.

Also, with all the gutting you did, I found it kind of weird that you didn't touch Tranq or the Unscarred/Bulwark/Sneak Attack combo.  I mean, I'm kind of happy about it, since Green Mages and Ravagers are my two most favorite classes in the game, but if you're slashing and burning Seers, Dragoons, Fighters and Jugglers so harshly I see no reason to leave those two alone.

Still and all, bravo for most of these changes.  I like that you've removed most of the Ultima skills (and made the remaining one pretty ludicrously expensive) and nerfed the AOE on sleep abilities.  Changing some of the more useless niche powers into useful-self buffs is also praiseworthy, and with the changes to Flintlocks and Cannoneers I might actually use one.  Most importantly, ding dong Mirror Item cheesing is dead.  Let us all rejoice.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 16, 2013, 01:11:20 pm
Yeah, I don't think I'll ever use Seers again. They are awful without Magick Frenzy. White Mages are still near useless. Ninjutsu needs to be stronger, or have more range than it does. Wyrmtamer and Parley plainly need different effects because they'll really only work when the opponent is close to death, you might as well kill them and get the loot then waste your time making them flee with less than 25% accuracy. Does cornered only work at 1 Hp and not 1 to 9 Hp? Because that'll seriously never happen, ever. Gladiator's elemental strikes are weaker? Why? In this game they are Magick Attack based (iirc, that is), and are already weak as it is.  Raptor's Full Assault is pathetic compared to Sneak Attack.

I really really like your Bard and Dancer though.

Tranq is not the broken imo. Neither is leap. Things like Protect, Shell, and Leap need to last 5 turns instead of 3.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Lennart on February 16, 2013, 01:26:45 pm
Version 0.1.2 of my tools have been released. They fix the issue you've found and one extra one. The safest solution is to redo all your changes. Since Eternal is a pretty cool guy and eh doesn't afraid of hacking FFTA2, I am willing to 'repair' your ROM to undo any errors caused by the two bugs. I'm happy to say that there will probably be no other major bugs unless you use an already hex'd ROM with bizarre values.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 16, 2013, 01:31:45 pm
Sounds good Lennart, thanks! I'll send you what you need in a little bit.

To everyone else, I'll respond to your crits in a bit as well. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 17, 2013, 02:16:12 pm
Okay, now that I have some time, I'm able to respond to your individual crits.

@Seers: I agree that Seers are kinda subpar without Magick Frenzy now, however, I prefer to think of them as more magickally inclined Red Mages for Humes. Cura, Esuna, the elemental -ra spells give them good versatility, and lets them essentially use three skillsets. (White Magick being represented by Cura/Esuna/Raise, Black Magick being represented by Fira/Blizzara/Thundara, and whatever secondary skillset you choose to use).

@Jugglers: I can agree that Jugglers are far less valuable now than they used to be, but, again, they're now best compared to another existing job. In this case: Ninja. I'll probably improve their HP and DEF to make them a tad more appealing, or I can return Smile Toss' Quicken effect and give it a hefty MP cost. That said, I'm leery about that since MP costs are so easily reduced in FFTA2.

@Backdraft: I'd be willing to make it Fire Elemental again if the power was made even lower. That way it could be akin to FFT's Night Sword or something.

@Tranq: If it proves to be a problem, I'll edit its effects. I'm not too concerned about it right now though.

@Unscarred/Bulwark/Sneak Attack: I can edit Sneak Attack and Bulwark, but currently since I can't edit Support abilities, Unscarred has to remain. What would you suggest be done with Sneak Attack and Bulwark?

@Ninjutsu: I think I'm going to end up going the way of FFT Geomancers for Ninjutsu. Unevadeable, small AoE damage with a chance to proc a status. I think that'd be fair.

@Cornered: Admittedly, I've never used it (I could never be bothered to get it on my Blue Mage), but I -think- it only works at 1-9 HP. I could very well be wrong though. I was just going by what the editor said.

@Gladiator Techs: Well I'll be damned. They ARE Magickal, looking at it in the editor. You learn something new everyday! I'll probably keep the power reduced in this case, but make them Physical in nature.

@Full Assault: I think it'll end up being Sneak Attack that gets changed before Full Assault, since you're the second person to have mentioned it.

@Protect/Shell: I can't currently extend buff/debuff duration, but I could make the actual Protect/Shell AoE 2 instead of 1. Thoughts?

@Leap: If you want to spend your unit's turn giving another unit an extra 1 Move, go for it. Personally, I'd rather go for damage or healing or something.

EDIT: Forgot to add that Summons are going to ignore allies/foes now, akin to FFT, but I'll probably be nuking Blood Price when I can.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 17, 2013, 11:30:25 pm
I've included an Alpha .ppf to the first post, which has been tested and works up to Wanted: Gilmunto. Try it if it suits your fancy, it still has some very unbalanced stuff right now, but it'll give you a feel for how it'll be.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ronin on February 18, 2013, 05:33:42 pm
well hi all, im new to this forum but not totally from ffta2 so i hope i can have some use to those who still work on this game.

Well i see that the change you've made intend to stop no-braining broken combo wich were allowed with ability like doublecast, frenzy wich is is just good to me.
But now they are few general change that bother me : you 've made the healing stuff harder to deliver, and i can understand that it make the game harder, but that's just my opinion, i think you ve overdone it for the white mage:

raise cost set to 20 and reraise to 50 when you know you start with 0 mp and you gain 8 mp per turn(if i remember corectly)
it's basicly mean that my white mage is gonna do nothing for at least 7 turns to cast a single reraise and im forgeting halve mp ability on purpose

then moving to the thing that bother me the most :

parivir: each of ELEMENTAL blade do now NORMAL damage ...
well now why would i choose to have a parivir in my team?
For his negative buff ability ? no ninja have ranged one,
for the double atack technique ? rather Dual welding, for the wind slash at melee range ... you get the idea
i know Parivir ability need to be nerfed but that's not the good direction (to me),
i mean a low defense magic resistance stat class like him aren't mean to inflict bad status to ennemies ! But trully to hit them the harder they can.
A change to make the parivir still viable would be to set his elemental damage to 1.5 instead of 2 and remove the debuff chance, so that even with geomancy it will deal only x 3 damage

If i were agresive here it's just that ffta2 parivir class was my favorite so i apologise already.

PS. Im delight that this game exist still in the heart of other ppl like yourself, and even if you would ignore my opinion i still support your project and wish you good luck !

PSS. sorry for my bad english it is not my native langage :p
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 19, 2013, 02:17:17 am
All right, what if Parivir skills inflicted debuffs to soften up an enemy's defenses?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ronin on February 19, 2013, 09:38:39 am
@ Eternal well thks for quick reply but "soften up enemy's defenses" is a saboteur work, and since the soldier is already an excellent saboteur with the rebalanced gauge it would be redundant(and i dont even talk about ninja), and as i said in my previous post :

For me a parivir isn't a saboteur but an elemental striker, so i don't care if they dont have any utility ability in their moveset, but they deserve at least the right of striking elemental and harder than a dual welding paladin :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 20, 2013, 01:19:07 am
I have a few other ideas on how to retool them, such as making them similar to FFT Swordskillers or FFT Samurai.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ronin on February 20, 2013, 01:26:45 am
that look cool, and thks to mind my opinion ^^.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: AugustDrake on February 20, 2013, 04:51:29 am
I'm also messing around with FFTA2 hacking. One thing you might want to consider - I LOVE your monster changes. On my to do list is making Limit Glove work when in a critical state at all. Rockbeast AI is kind of stupid and loves charging in to try Limit Glove when it won't work.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 20, 2013, 08:21:57 am
No, having parivir's elemental strikes deal normal damage is exactly what should happen. They were far too broken before and using the excuse that "soldiers are already good debuffers!" is incredibly moot as most jobs are good debuffers as it is and because they can't cause damage for any of their debuffing moves. Not to mention, parivir's and soldiers cover different debuffs as it is so the comparison is very lost. Ninja have a ranged status effect? Yes, but that deals 10 damage or less in every other instance. 

Removing the debuff and raising the damage to 150 % could be a sizeable maneuver, and it would be... But then you still have Backdraft (which you failed to mention) which is stronger than Body Slam; both deal damage to the user because they are apparently so strong themselves (not). Backdraft only deals 140% damage, yet it should deal damage to the user whereas the elemental blades don't but deal 10% more damage? Not a fair deal at all... or it would seem, only if you take advantage of a Fire Shield or whatever equips allows one to absorb fire. But then, this isn't an issue at all in this version.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 20, 2013, 08:26:06 am
I've always preferred archers having 4 move instead of 3 because I never found most archer classes very useful, except sniper. Same goes for paladin.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ronin on February 20, 2013, 08:55:03 am
@ Ethereal Embrace if i read corectly your post, you 're sayin that in the vanilla game :

Parivir were broken because they has no mp cost  x 2 damage elemental ability that could apply debuff on enemy, and i'm on your side there.

But for u the parivir i suggest is unbalanced too? wich is for remind :

a Parivir without debuffing ability and without any utility ability (nor range damage ability) with no mp cost x 1.5 Elemental damage ability would be unfair because of the backdraft Fighter's ability ? then just buff it !

At last i want to say a word about vanilla parivir: they were broken as hell with their kit who has utility, ranged damging ability etc ...

But what i want for a rebalanced Parivir to be is :

an Elemental Melee Striker who isn't outdamaged by a Dual welding melee paladin and that's all i want .(Sequentia/Fallen angel OP ...)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 20, 2013, 12:32:26 pm
Won't get into Parivirs/Fighters yet, but I will say that I gave Archers 3 Move instead of 4 to help the AI stay back with them.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ronin on February 20, 2013, 01:45:44 pm
hmm its true that the AI make archer moove really too close of my melee char ^^'
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: AugustDrake on February 21, 2013, 04:44:11 pm
The Fighter's Backdraft ability is a sad joke, only learned in the name of getting the little Mastery star. Soldier A-Abilities are a total joke too, they exist solely to be a pitstop to a "real" class.

I've been sitting down myself trying to analyze the Parivir, and ultimately he suffers from two major problems.
- Geomancy exists. Seriously, try a Geomancy Parivir: Everything everyone says about them is true, they're insane.
- Flair ability debuffs are amazing.

Flair abilities really aren't that great. They do as much damage as a dual wielding attack; even if you dual wield, it only takes the damage of the "primary" weapon into account. Their ability to debuff is nice, but a Sniper/Spellblade can do that from across the map (this will lead into an eventual Blood Price discussion if I follow that rabbit hole); they might not debuff for as much damage as a Parivir can, but still. Anyhow, I think the real answer is that Geomancy needs to go. Black Mages suffer, admittedly, but they really suffer because any decent black magic requires downing an Ether turn 1, sitting around like a fool, borked MP screwery (Let's equip Absorb MP and get the Blood Price Summoner to doublecast Kirin) that really isn't worth it, et cetera.

The debuffs used by Flair are very reliable and potent. Tackling that is a hard question, and I think they need to be put next to the Spellblade to see what's acceptable. Is the Spellblade acceptable? (Again, outside of Blood Price, which is bananas.)

The worst problem with the balancing of the game isn't that any one A-Ability on it's own is bad. Hell, a Red Mage with Doublecast is nice, but if we're talking a "pure" Red Mage in a vacuum, it's not living terror. It's when the classes start to stack with each other that the insanity comes out - the Red Mage/Summoner is the real problem. Someone on the FFTA/FFTA2 design team looked at Calculators and thought yeah, more of this, this is totally acceptable.

I think that classes really need to be looked at each as their own beast. What role does X class serve on a tactical sense? There's a lot of classes that don't have any real role other than to fill space, be a gimmick, or do something badly that another class can do well, and there's other classes that if you're not using them you're a fool.

Maybe this is getting kind of tangenty.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 21, 2013, 04:55:42 pm
To ease some concerns, Geomancy and Blood Price are being flat out nixed when I can get to that.

As for each class being a gimmick... I find most of TA/A2's classes totally boring, quite honestly. When I have access to a more wide array of tools, I'll be retooling each and every one to fill a more unique role.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 21, 2013, 07:01:37 pm
QuoteBlack Mages suffer, admittedly, but they really suffer because any decent black magic requires downing an Ether turn 1, sitting around like a fool, borked MP screwery (Let's equip Absorb MP and get the Blood Price Summoner to doublecast Kirin) that really isn't worth it, et cetera.


Not necessarily. Actually, no, that's just not true. That is, in fact, a very common misconception when strategies are discussed in FFTA2. I was grinning between my teeth when I found that Eternal reduced Fire and Thunder damage by 20 % in favor of his changes because, unlike in FFTA, magick damage is arithmetically based.

In FFTA:
Fire = 30 base power
Fira = 40 base power
Firaga = 50 base power

And the formula for magick based damage = (Magick - Resist / 2) / 2 * base power.
This formula would make it so that Fira is always 33 % stronger than Fire, and that Firaga is always 67 % stronger than Fire.

However.

In FFTA2
Fire = 20 base power
Fira = 40 base power
Firaga = 60 base power

And the formula for magick based damage = (Magick - Resist / 2 + base power ) * .75

So, say if your Fire deals 5 damage. Fira, in turn, would deal 20 damage, and Firaga would deal 35 damage.
Say if your Fire deals 205 damage. Fira, in turn, would deal 220 damage, and Firaga would deal 235 damage.

In Eternal's hack (unless he's found a way to make spells have percentage based power), if Blizzard deals 205 damage. Thunder/Fire would deal 202 damage (because of 20 % reduction in base power), Thundara/Fira would deal 214 damage, and Thundaga/Firaga would deal 226 damage.

I can't tell you how much people have told me to get Half Mp over Geomancy. In FFTA2's system, Geomancy is by far the superior choice as, while Half Mp would allow one to use Firaga every turn...That would get you to do 235 damage each turn.

But Geomancy would allow you to deal 150 % damage so 205 * 1.5 = 307.5 damage. And when you save enough Mp to do Firaga then you get 352.5 damage.

In FFTA's system, however, Half Mp could be the better choice (except that people never fucking run out of Mp in that game, lol. Why bother with either of those abilities when you have Turbo Mp?).
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 21, 2013, 07:06:29 pm
C'mon guys. Snipers, Spellblades, Green Mages, Assassins and every debuff-based job are absolutely useless when you have...

Fusilier

Stop Shot. Charm Shot. Ultima. 8 to 9 range. nuff said.

One of the most broken jobs to ever exist, and they were just as good in FFTA.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 21, 2013, 08:23:26 pm
I'd like to note that Stopshot's debuff proc is 25% instead of 50% now, same with Charmshot and, IIRC, Confushot.

Thank you for the information on magick damage calculation, EE. I was under the assumption that they were the same. I can flat out reduce their end damage, but I'm not about to worry about Black Magick just yet.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 22, 2013, 07:33:55 am
If you wouldn't mind making Fira 25 % stronger than Fire, as well, and Firaga 50 % stronger than Fire, then that'd be great too.  :mrgreen:

I never found confusion to be that good. It was too much of a mixed bag, and Charm was more common and far superior alternative. Same thing with berserk. Not sure if it does in any of the FFTA games, but in most games, Berserk raises physical damage by a lot. I say it needs to as well, in this game. And if it does already, the effect isn't very noticeable.

Also, the support abilities and stat buffs: Attack up, Defense up, Magick up, and Resist up are all arithmetically based as well. Unlike in the FFTA where they were percentage based. In FFTA2, they raise the stat by 35 (or so I've been informed). But in FFTA, Attack and Magick up raise the stat by 25 %, while Defense up and Resist up (AND Protect or Shell) boost the stat by 40 %. I have no idea how effective Protect and Shell are in this game (if I had to guess, probably another +35 instance), but they aren't good enough imo. Not saying any of those things should raise stats by 40 %. I think Attack and Magick should raise by 15 or 20 %, and Defense stats raise by 25 or 30 % (same thing with Protect and Shell, and or at least make those buffs last 5 turns instead of 3).

They aren't the only supports as well. Blood Price: Magick + 35 (which I'm actually fine with because Blood Price is really good/cheap). Doublehand: Attack + 5 (yeah, the coveted ability from FFT that raises damage up to 200 % only boosts attack by 5...) Pierce: the ability that allows one to bypass Reflect, Magick + 35 (might be a lower value, but I think it's good that it raises power because an ability that only lets one by Reflect is pretty useless imo).

A bunch of other things are included. And before you say anything about enemies and not being balanced, plenty of enemies have these types of abilities AND their better counterparts. For example, the ability Archmage functions as both Magick up and Resist up, and there is a physical alternative (I can't remember what it's called). But making those abilities percentage based can make the game harder as well as easier.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: AugustDrake on February 22, 2013, 02:44:07 pm
Quote from: Ethereal Embrace on February 21, 2013, 07:01:37 pm
(a bunch of awesome stuff concerning the numbers behind FFTA2's spellcasting)

Wicked info. I beat FFTA2 to 100% completion at least five times and that's just how unfamiliar I am with any spell that ends in -a or -ga; it's so not worth it, and this basically spells out that I missed nothing.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 22, 2013, 03:43:13 pm
Here are some images showing some of the changes in-game.

Slow Dance being able to target all enemies.
(http://i.imgur.com/dq99Q6W.png)

Flowsand Lord's new HP total and elemental affinities.
(http://i.imgur.com/icGPorX.png)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on February 25, 2013, 01:07:31 pm
How do you plan on changing the stats?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on February 27, 2013, 01:10:27 pm
Quite honestly, I'm not sure yet. I'm pretty sure Monsters will get a Speed boost all around, but I'm not entirely sure what else should be changed yet.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on March 03, 2013, 02:45:43 am
Okay, let's start a discussion about MP Costs. I propose changing Cure/Fire/Blizzard/Thunder to 10 MP, so that they can still be spammed, but if you want to use higher level magick, you'll need to at least wait a bit more than you'd have to now. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Ethereal Embrace on March 04, 2013, 01:47:30 pm
I don't agree with raising Mp costs of black magick. If the 2nd and 3rd level ones are stronger with % based damage, then I'd certainly attest to that.

I do agree with raising Mp cost of Haste and or (but especially) Hastega because they are way broken.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Irish~GoodBye on September 10, 2013, 01:49:34 am
Hello. Sorry for reviving this old topic but i have been searching for any ffta2 hacks and this is the only one that i've found. However having played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: Grim Grimoire from the advance game im sure this will be brilliant as well :D

So i have got two questions.

1. Is this still being worked on? ( yea i think i know the answer, just asking to be sure)

2. How playable is this jet? ( as in how complete are the changes; are there still major bugs; etc.)

Thank you very much in advance :D
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 10, 2013, 01:50:24 am
1) It's still being worked on, albeit slowly.

2) It's completely playable. Not very balanced and pretty untested, but it's playable.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Irish~GoodBye on September 10, 2013, 02:10:23 am
Sweet! Thx for your quick reply.

Im trying it out right now :D

( on my Handy :3)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Irish~GoodBye on November 07, 2013, 06:24:05 pm
Hello so far testing has been great. Its alot more fun to play now^^

The only thing that would make this even better would be enemys scaling with your level. It still gets too easy as you get past midgame.

Great hack. Cheers ~
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: ArcticPrism on February 15, 2014, 09:06:44 pm
I agree to the level scaling thing. While I haven't played this hack, I've been adjusting most of the enemies to increase their stats and make them more unique like flan's having ridiculous physical defense in pretty much every other final fantasy game(even ffta had this but it was changed in ffta2). My biggest problem with difficulty atm is just I've out leveled everything. The game gives too much exp. In FFTA my problem was that by end game I was 10 levels behind because I didn't do enough missions, now in FFTA2 in midgame I'm 10 levels ahead and there is no challenge. I just send my mage to the front line and nuke everything.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on March 24, 2014, 10:01:13 pm
FFTA2 tools are very limited so far, but I'm making slight progress with A2 as well as TA. TA is my major focus right now, but A2 development is underway too!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: ArcticPrism on March 25, 2014, 12:13:24 pm
That's good to know. There are hardly any posts in this section of the forum now so I figured most hacking for the games was dead. It's too bad one thing that will probably never be fixed is the game's ai. It really does feel like the a2 ai picks a random move to use on you. I can't tell you how many times I've had something with like 5 hp but the ai would rather  use confusion or some other non-damaging status rather than kill me. Using power break on black mages annoyed me too.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on January 03, 2015, 06:49:36 pm
It lives. 2015.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on February 18, 2015, 10:05:19 am
Hello!

I'm excited to try this hack when it will be a bit more tested and all, but in the meantime may I make a suggestion?

I'd love to see gadgeteer moves changed, I just hate that random part and I never use them because of it.

Maybe you could change them to simple aoe 1, or maybe even single target... or even all foes but low debuff proc?  Anything as long as randomness is gone!

Edit: Uhh, call me stupid or whatever but how do you even patch this?  The patch is a PPF file, so I tried a PPF patcher... but it only works with ISO files?  FFTA2 is nds file as far as I know...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Beckendorf on April 08, 2015, 08:54:09 am
Amazing hack but I have got a question. Can I play it on my 3ds?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Bonesy on September 03, 2015, 02:27:22 am
Not unless you've got a method of doing so!

I take it this'll be your primary focus after you're mostly done with 1.0 FFTAGG? I enjoyed what little I played of the old version of FFTAGG and gave you feedback on however long ago and am pretty hype for this because I generally tend to prefer FFTA2.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 03, 2015, 10:50:05 pm
Indeed! I'm very excited for FFTA2 GG, but I really want to focus on finishing 1.0 of FFTA GG first. I've already begun brainstorming what classes will be in FFTA2 GG. Since Green Mage and Bard already exist in FFTA2 GG, there's no need to have those replace Illusionist and Animist respectively. Other jobs will be created for them instead. Orator, Samurai, and Myrmidon will all return.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 21, 2015, 01:03:14 am
I'm pleased to announce that as of tonight, I've begun text editing for FFTA2 GG. It's a ways off (though it shouldn't take as long as FFTA GG), but the following jobs will hopefully make an appearance:

-Necromancer (replacing Illusionist, focuses directly on Undead units, charming them, exorcising them, etc.)

-Myrmidon (replacing Gladiator, uses skills similar to FFT Swordskills, akin to FFTA GG)

-Reaver (replacing Lanista, similar to Dark Knights in the FF series, albeit less magickally-oriented than FFTA GG's Reavers.)

-Oracle (replacing Master Monk, focuses on close-range combat with Poles with the ability to inflict debuffs that other Bangaa jobs cannot, very similar to FFT's Oracle, but with a heavier emphasis of close combat)

-Evoker (replacing Alchemist, similar to FFTA GG's Evokers, using Summons with a wide variety of effects that tend to be "opposite" of the regular Summon's effect)

-Orator (replacing Tinker, focus on close combat and directly buffing/debuffing stats themselves)

-Samurai (replacing Defender, magick-based job for Bangaa, with a focus on evasion and releasing magickal-based attacks around the user)

-Corsair (replacing Flintlock, going to test to see if they can use Cards- I doubt it, but it's worth a try- will have a grab-bag of various abilities, such as nullifying enemy evasion for a turn, attacking twice, and taking advantage of poor enemy unit positioning)

-White Monk has been renamed Monk.

Unlike FFTA GG, Animist will likely remain. There will be lots of other changes, of course, but I'm glad to get this ball rolling!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on September 21, 2015, 06:01:10 pm
Ohh necromancers, I love them :D
That alone will make me want to try your hack.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 21, 2015, 06:06:12 pm
They're actually almost done, believe it or not. I'm just waiting for some help from RFH since I'm having some issues editing their skillset descriptions. I made all their abilities today and (shockingly) they all work perfectly! Here are some pics:

http://imgur.com/a/PeMx3

-Brainrot deals damage to both an enemy's HP and MP.
-Banish destroys fallen Undead in a large AoE.
-Seal Evil inflicts Petrify on a living Undead unit.
-Putrify deals Dark damage in a small AoE and inflicts Resilience Down, making the enemy more vulnerable to debuffs.
-Duskbane delays the turn of all Undead enemies in the battle.
-Styx inflicts Charm on Undead units in a small AoE.
-Cruciate fully revives a fallen ally, but inflicts Poison and Speed Down on the user.
-Tainted Love deals non-elemental damage to a single enemy and may inflict Charm.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on September 22, 2015, 01:53:41 am
Quote from: Eternal on September 21, 2015, 06:06:12 pm
They're actually almost done, believe it or not. I'm just waiting for some help from RFH since I'm having some issues editing their skillset descriptions. I made all their abilities today and (shockingly) they all work perfectly! Here are some pics:

http://imgur.com/a/PeMx3

-Brainrot deals damage to both an enemy's HP and MP.
-Banish destroys fallen Undead in a large AoE.
-Seal Evil inflicts Petrify on a living Undead unit.
-Putrify deals Dark damage in a small AoE and inflicts Resilience Down, making the enemy more vulnerable to debuffs.
-Duskbane delays the turn of all Undead enemies in the battle.
-Styx inflicts Charm on Undead units in a small AoE.
-Cruciate fully revives a fallen ally, but inflicts Poison and Speed Down on the user.
-Tainted Love deals non-elemental damage to a single enemy and may inflict Charm.


Aw no raise dead?  I mean, a necromancer should be able to have undeads at his service...

And some of these skill names sound familiar... Tactic Ogre?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on September 22, 2015, 02:06:09 am
Why would cards not work? It's just a throw animation. I gave a hand cannon to a nu mou white mage in FFTA2 and it worked. The animations are much more complete in the DS game.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Jumza on September 22, 2015, 04:51:43 pm
Quote from: bcrobert on September 22, 2015, 02:06:09 am
Why would cards not work? It's just a throw animation. I gave a hand cannon to a nu mou white mage in FFTA2 and it worked. The animations are much more complete in the DS game.


Thats just amazing. All Nu Mous should be able to have cannons :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 22, 2015, 09:55:20 pm
I think I need to find a canon way to give White Mages Hand Cannons now.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on September 23, 2015, 01:57:57 am
Quote from: Jumza on September 22, 2015, 04:51:43 pm
Thats just amazing. All Nu Mous should be able to have cannons :P


Right? I hacked the character to be named after the Cinquleur white king and was firing off Ultima from a cannon. WITH A NU MOU WHITE MAGE.

@Eternal: You don't need a "canon" reason. It's awesome; thus do it. Imagine if the maker of Pokemon Derpizard had changed his mind because a water-type Charizard isn't "canon."
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 23, 2015, 08:56:13 pm
Maybe instead of Evoker I'll make a Hand Cannon job for Nu Mou. They can use a physical job anyways since Reavers aren't around for Nu Mou any more. Also, I think the primary gimmick for Corsairs will be positioning. As in, immobilizing units, knocking them back, teleporting allies, dealing increased damage to the enemy's rear, etc.

EDIT: As of this edit, Necromancer is fully finished. Every description is updated, and every skill works properly. Huzzah!

(http://i.imgur.com/4SVFVcO.png)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 26, 2015, 01:19:05 pm
Update! The Orator job is complete and fully functional! As with FFTA GG, they can alter enemy stats and have a variety of useful tricks, such as AoE Sleep and the ability to bestow Reraise.

-Praise boosts the damage of the target's next physical attack and bestows Critical Up.
-Frighten inflicts Slow and/or Immobilize on a single target.
-Intimidate reduces a single target's Attack and Magick.
-Invite inflicts Charm on a single target.
-Insult inflicts Berserk on a single target.
-Mimic Mewt inflicts Sleep over a small AoE.
-Flatter reduces a single target's Defense and Resistance.
-Preach bestows Reraise to a single unit.


(http://i.imgur.com/U0BJhcA.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/endhS9s.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/hnmzFrd.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/UGEGckb.png)


EDIT: I've also successfully made a Grapple skill for Fighters to replace Backdraft. It may or may not be totally OP, but we'll see. It works like Yowie's Draw In. It drags an enemy from up to 4 tiles away to within 2 tiles of the user and Roots it for the next turn, making it easier for melee units near the Fighter to gang up on that enemy.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on September 27, 2015, 01:37:41 am
Sounds like Grapple will give the Fighter a touch of much-needed uniqueness, since his whole deal has always been "deal damage in different ways" which is...meh. (Especially since he only ever had two unique abilities...) The added status ailment might break it, since it sounds like it hits a pretty sizable area.

And I'll miss the name "Mimic Babus."
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: pondwitch on September 28, 2015, 10:31:57 am
oh wowee, i can't wait for this to be finished!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 28, 2015, 11:01:03 am
Progress is going much faster than anticipated! The only thing I won't be able to do very easily yet is change enemy formations, but that can wait until later. Today I'll be working on the Oracle job, which should be a lot of fun.

EDIT:

Oracles are finished! Oracles are evasive warmages that focus on inflicting debuffs, boosting their own Evasion, and smacking things in the head with Poles. Directly inspired by FFT's Oracles, they have higher MP growth than most Bangaa jobs, higher Evasion than Tricksters, but less Speed, and less Defense/HP than other Bangaa jobs. Having them Evade attacks is the way to keep them alive.

Doom- Inflicts Doom on a single unit.
Cessation- Inflicts Stop on a single unit.
Hesitation- Inflicts Disable in a small AoE.
Invigor- Drains HP from an enemy.
Prescience- Bestows Evasion Up on the user.
Empowerment- Drains MP from an enemy.
Lubrication- Inflicts Oil in a large AoE.
Repose- Inflicts Sleep on a single unit.

http://imgur.com/a/5edj3

EDIT 2:

Fusiliers have been revamped, akin to FFTA GG. They now have Rustshot, Rendshot, and Breakshot which breaks Armor, Weapons, and Shields respectively. They also have Warpshot, which teleports a unit within weapon range randomly around the field and inflicts Confuse.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on September 28, 2015, 07:43:40 pm
Iiiiif you're taking requests, here's a wishlist of jobs that could use some love:

Hume:
- Soldier
- Thief
- Fighter (sounds like you're on it)
- Parivir (little too OP)
- Ninja (outside of double sword)
- Seer (take away magick frenzy and...)

Bangaa:
- Warrior
- Gladiator (take away Ultima and it's pretty useless)
- Dragoon (too vanilla)
- Templar (any use outside of haste + cheer?)

Nu Mou:
- Tough to pin on any one class, but could use a little more differentiation

Viera:
- Green mage
- Elementalist

Moogle:
- Thief
- Flintlock (sounds like you're on it)
- Tinker (heh)
- Chocobo Knight

Seeq:
- Viking

Gria:
- Geomancer
- Raptor (mostly similar to but slightly inferior to Ravager)

I guess I struggle with using some classes because their techs/growths/equipment are sub-optimal when compared to others. Archers and Soldiers usually fall into this category for me.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 28, 2015, 08:26:22 pm
Haha, I'm not really taking -requests- per se, but I'm always up for new ideas!

Humes:

-Soldiers have lost Mug Gil and have gained MP Gift, which allows them to transfer their (unused) MP to another unit. Their Rends are also Weapon Range now (I forget if they were in Vanilla A2), and First Aid has 1 Range and cures some minor debuffs (Poison, Blind, and Oil). It also heals substantially more HP, but we'll see if that'll need to be nerfed back or not. Provoke now has 3 Range as opposed to 1, and Gauge is now Weapon Range, but decreases Defense and Resistance.

-Thieves are a tricky one for me. Quite frankly, thanks to Steal being changed so heavily, I was tempted to axe them totally for something new. Instead, Loot Lv. 1/2 are being consolidated, as are Loot Lv. 3/4. Steal HP and Steal MP are going to be a thing as with FFTA GG. Steal Gil is now Mug, which (of course) deals damage within Weapon Range and steals Gil. Steal Limelight will probably become Steal Armor. Sadly, Steal Weapon isn't a thing I can make yet, to my knowledge.

-Fighters are even trickier for me because of Myrmidon by proxy. Many skills are shared between the two jobs, and as my experiments today showed me, I can't just up and erase skills and put them on new weapons and use other skill slots to create new things. Ultimately, I'd love to give Fighters Rend Weapon/Armor, but that depends on what happens with Gladiator/Myrmidon. Grapple is definitely a working thing already though, which makes them infinitely more interesting than they were before. (And no more Backdraft spam!)

-Parivir skills now deal normal damage with their normal debuffs. Geomancy will be limited to Gria (Geomancers) now, so that won't be quite as abused any more. I -was- going to make them into FFTA GG Samurai, but Bangaa -really- need the extra magickal damage in their race.

-Ninja skills are now very much like FFT Geomancy. They're free, have AoE, deal minor damage, and rarely inflict debuffs. They also have Japanese names, akin to FFTA GG.

-Seers are... difficult. I actually really like Magick Frenzy and want it to stay in some capacity. I might end up making it boss-only just because of how cool it is. That, and I think Illua with Sheol/Magick Frenzy spam would be hilarious. Ultimately, I think they're going to become the Red Mage for Humes... albeit leaning more towards Speed and Resistance than Red Mages focus on Attack.

-Warriors are basically how they were before, but that again depends on how I end up dealing with Myrmidons. If Myrmidons become a thing, then Warriors will mostly stay the same. If not, Warriors will end up being the ones to get the Rend skills for Bangaa.

-Gladiators are (hopefully) going to become Myrmidons, a job originally seen in FFTA GG that uses FFT Swordskills. They would be physically powerful, but slow. Myrmidons would have Stasis Sword, Split Punch, Crush Punch, Lightning Stab, Icewolf Bite, Shellbust Stab, and Yell (Defense Down on a single enemy).

-Dragoons are another tricky one. Wyrmtamer will be able to literally Control Wyrmkin upon the next release (just like the Beastmaster's Control), but I don't know what else I want to give them yet. I might make Fire Breath completely linear (like Earth Render), and change some other Breaths, but I'm not sure yet.

-Templars are great. Debuffs are ridiculously common in my patches, so Astra is a lifesaver. MP starts at full and doesn't regenerate now, so Rasp is also good for dealing with enemy magi. Piercing Cry is one of the few skills that flat out reduces an enemy's Speed (and stacks with Slow), which combined with Haste can make for some really interesting combos. I want to change Soul Sphere so it's not so same-y with Rasp. It'll probably end up some totally new skill.

-Nu Mou have Necromancers now, as well as Ultima. Arcanists will (eventually) be given a facelift, mostly because I like them too much not to make them more fun. Scholars are going to get a chance eventually as well, I'm just not sure how. Alchemists (thanks to Blanky) will be wearing heavy armor and using hand cannons as of the next update though. Boom boom! I may end up making Scholar or Arcanist a physical-oriented job. That was the point of Reavers in FFTA GG, but Reavers are on Seeq now, so Nu Mou need something to make up for it.

-Green Mages have increased use, in that Protect/Shell now have summon AoE and Leap is still around.

-Elementalists are still around in their same capacity, but White Flame now removes some debuffs instead of healing HP, as that's what Earth Heal does. That being said, Spellblades will probably be something new soon. I'm toying with the idea of a job that can use any equipment and uses "Stances" to alter and mix/max their stats for maximum versatility. For example, "Stonestance" would increase Defense and Resistance, but lower Speed and Evasion, "Swiftwind" would increase Speed and Evasion, but lower Defense and Resistance, etc.

-Tinker has become Orators, which have been detailed above. Basically, they're a lot more fun now!

-Chocobo Knights are so... everywhere that I'm not sure what to do with them. I'll figure something out eventually.

-Vikings are mostly staying the same, but I don't know what I'll do with things like Pickpocket.

-Geomancers are becoming the sole user of Geomancy. It just makes sense, afterall. I'd also like to give them an ability similar to Viking's Tsunami (usable only while in Water), akin to FFT's Water Ball, but I don't have any room for it in their skillset.

-Raptors are going to be completely rehauled, I'm just not sure to what yet. Maybe a Dragoon-esque class similar to Llyud from Revenant Wings.

Also, Snipers have a really cool looking Arrow Rain skill now, which is summon AoE 50% weapon damage at normal accuracy, which is great for sniping off enemies while damaging non-damaged enemies.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on September 29, 2015, 08:31:01 pm
I'm super pleased with some of the changes you've made in GG, including the Myrmidons, Samurai and Moogles in general. I'm excited for 1.0's release before doing a full play through. Any chance for dual-wielding fusiliers in GG:A2? Just for lulz.

Not to borrow too liberally from rfh's A2 mod, but I think he's done some really good things with Soldiers/Warriors, Thieves, Seers, Ninjas, Beastmasters and Spellblades.

- Thieves: steal weapon would probably be OP, so I wouldn't fret over it

- Dragoons: changing the AoE of the different breaths is at least a good way to mix things up. What frustrates me about Dragoons is that Jump has a fairly low hit rate. Anything that could either boost Jump's accuracy or increase its range (4?) would be helpful. The other useful thing about Jump that's been lost in FFTA and A2 is that it's meant to remove the character from the field for a period of time, during which it can't be the target of any enemy attacks. If there were a way to add that functionality back in it would be more interesting. Otherwise Jump is Air Render with one extra range and lower accuracy - not as good imho

- Green Mage: Outside of Leap and Tranq, still pretty meh (maybe Leap and Tranq with a greater AoE? But isn't that just OP?)

- Elementalist: always struck me as being mostly about the non-Red Mage and -Summoner elements. However, since Red Mage has Doublecast and Summoner has the extra AoE, Elementalist always takes third place behind them. If you limit Doublecast to red magick (is that in GG?) then Elementalist becomes more attractive (and Red Mage less so)

Some random thoughts:

New classes: there are a couple classes from other FF games that could be used:
- Dark Knight: maybe a useful replacement for a Raptor?
- Chemist: is there a way to make Items learnable and buff them to a point where someone would want to use them (outside of Grimoire Stone, Eureka Crystal)? Then you could create a scenario in which Throw Items (Chemist P-ability?) could be interesting, perhaps by removing Throw from the Ninja (or not letting them throw non-weapon items)

Mages: one issue that I run into with mages is that for the most part their spells have a max range of 5 (with the center of the 1 AoE at 4 range). Many jobs have 4 move, plus it usually doesn't take that long to get a character with some sort of ranged physical attack (e.g. Air Render), both of which generally neutralize mages in no time (Archers usually don't hit as hard). Mages are generally slower and have pretty crappy DEF. Would there be any way to either boost magic range, spell power or mages' DEF? I guess I could make the same point about most ranged weapon classes as well (except Tricksters, of course).

Equipment: more could be done with the equipment, especially in terms of tradeoffs. Usually you'll pick up a piece of armor that has immune/absorb to a certain element, but no downsides. Another way to make things interesting would be to make equipment strong to one element but weak to another (I'm mostly thinking along the lines of Persona 3 or 4, if you've ever played either). That could also force the player to use certain jobs with hard-to-find elements. Add elemental effects to more weapons/armor and you have an interesting situation.

Stats: vanilla FFTA2 is usually about maxing ATK above all else. What if the other stats were more useful? I think you're onto a good idea with Stances. Speed <> Attack, for instance.

Turn order: outside of Haste/Slow/Quicken/Stop is there a way to delay a character's turn by "x" in the turn order? E.g. 01 hits 02 with ability that bumps 02 to 07 - by a set amount and one time only, not Slow. What about reversing turn orders for 01-10?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on September 29, 2015, 09:08:39 pm
Insofar as RFH's patch goes, I really liked some of his skills. Steal Speed in particular really stood out to me and is serving as inspiration for a job that I might use later on. Beastmasters in particular are getting a facelift eventually, namely based on Charming and buffing Controlled monsters. My focus right now, however, is to add the new jobs and then play around with other jobs a little later, while ensuring that everything remains bugless. I've learned a lot about QA during FFTA GG's development which I'm able to transfer to this project as well.

To respond to your post in regards to each individual job, it's difficult working within the space confines of each skill's name and making each individual skill interesting and balanced. Part of the challenge with FFTA/A2 is making skillsets also viable as secondaries. Art of War, for example, makes for a great secondary on Archers, Hunters, and Paladins. It's not meant to be stellar out-of-the-box. It's meant to be a good beginning skillset that coordinates well with other jobs, especially early on. Steal is intended to be a good skillset for units who want to cripple their enemy by draining HP or MP, and by stealing equipment. Dragoons, however, will always have me for a loss. In FFTA GG I had at one point considered having them be able to Morph into a Dragon, but that idea was scrapped. In FFTA2, that's not even an option. Green Mages are another skillset that's intended to be a secondary, to find use early-battle when most units are huddled together. I'm considering replacing Tranq with a version of Extend to make their buffs/debuffs last even longer. Dualcast is limited to Red Magick, yes.

-Reavers (formerly Lanistas) are Dark Knights. Their gimmick is as it is in every other FF- sacrificing HP, draining HP/MP, and flat-out causing damage. They're slated to have Souleater (same as Vanilla), Bane (damage around self at cost of HP), Charon (tremendous damage around self at cost of life), Shadowblade (Drains HP), Duskblade (Drains MP), Fearful Impact (Deals weapon damage and decreases Attack and Defense), Ravage (Damages and ignores Counters), and Ruin (Damages and ignores Evasion). I'm tempted to replace Ravage and Ruin for Bio and Doom, maybe. I'm not sure yet.

-Alchemists are basically armored Chemists. Throw is hardcoded, and Throw Item can't really be a thing in A2, so that's out.

-As far as magick range is concerned, I much prefer taking AoE away from physical jobs and making it more of a magickal thing. Magick is tough to balance in A2, and I've also been messing around with altering job Move/Jump. I really want positioning to be key in A2 as well as buffing/debuffing, so in many ways I -want- mages to be vulnerable, but at the same time, they should also be able to make things go boom.

-Equipment is the one thing that definitely took a hit in A2. In FFTA GG, for example, I make each Stave able to heal on hit and they generally have status immunity. For example, Heal on Hit, Immune: Silence, Immune: Poison, etc. In FFTA2, items can only have -one- non-stat property. This means that many items I made interesting in FFTA GG aren't going to be quite the same. I still intend on making each individual item at least somewhat tempting though. Elemental boosting/absorption is a little more streamlined now though. DEF as a stat sucks. That is all.

Turn order effects are pretty limited. I can only Haste, Slow, Stop, Delay, or Quicken. That's about it. There are a few more Delay skills in FFTA2 GG than there were in Vanilla though.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on September 30, 2015, 01:40:54 am
Thanks for the feedback. Had a couple other ideas:

- Is it possible to code average accuracy levels to jobs or job-specific abilities? That could help balance out the usefulness of some jobs (higher atk, lower accuracy)

- Similar to how you're exploring using a draw-in effect on Fighters, what about abilities that could really move units around the battlefield? For instance, while Rush has a knockback of 1, why not have an ability with a knockback of 3? Why not toss the enemy unit behind the attacking unit? What about a recoil effect that pushes the attacking unit back a tile?

- A job whose gimmick is status effects for all enemies with low accuracy (maybe a replacement for the scholar)

- You could always try breaking up white/green mages a little differently. For example, take away some of the white mage's more powerful spells and replace with lower-power green magick like protect/shell (not protectga/shellga)

- Another option along these lines would be to eliminate Esuna and break it up into spells that clear up individual statuses, like items

- You could attune all of a job's abilities to one or two elements

- Speaking of which, I don't know if coding allows for a Mystic Knight-style approach of imbuing a unit with a certain element for a battle. Or the opposite, which would basically be Null Fire/Blizzard/etc. for a hit (Astra for non-status)

- One more job idea would be an anti-Beastmaster: instead of learning abilities that let you control those monsters, you could learn abilities that would let you deal more damage to them (I guess I'm thinking Zidane-style skills from FFIX)

- Is it possible to code custom AoEs such as a 2x2 or a 3x3 square, or a V-shape?

That's all for now!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Rfh on September 30, 2015, 11:38:47 am
FFTA2 Speed system is very similar to FFT, the difference is the CT cap in FFT is 100 and the CT cap in FFTA2 is 1000.
If in FFT haste is a bit breaking status, (it multiplies speed by *1,5) in FFTA2 it multiplies speed by *2! It is exaggerated, and also Slow, that divides speed at 50%. It means that while the rest of the units attacks two times, the slow unit only attack once. Slow and Haste need to be modified, but I don't know how. And the same with the speed down, that has the same effect that Slow, but for always...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on October 01, 2015, 05:46:56 am
Been wondering, is it possible to add new job slots?  I'm thinking about Seeq/Gria because they only have 4 jobs... would be great if they had more like other races!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 01, 2015, 01:42:54 pm
With regard to the Chocobo Knight, animation-wise can he only mount chocobos or can he mount other monsters? If others, then you could make it into a class similar to the vanilla beastmaster.

Edit/update: another thought - borrowing from FF5, any chance of giving some sort of bonus if someone masters all of a job's abilities? Many jobs have no incentive to learn more than 2-3 abilities (I'm looking at you, vanilla Fighter).
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on October 02, 2015, 01:53:45 am
Quote from: Eternal on September 29, 2015, 09:08:39 pm
Dragoons, however, will always have me for a loss.


Go play Tactics Ogre PSP fool. The key to making dragoons strong is to make their signature target a serious threat. Make dragons intensely powerful. Then change Wyrmkiller to like 300% damage only on dragons. This way Sidewinder won't be a static upgrade over Wyrmkiller.

If you balance it just right then it should be -possible- to kill dragons without a dragoon, but much easier to handle them with one.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 02, 2015, 06:37:36 pm
@Chocolatemoose:

-Editing the amount of tiles knocked back isn't within our knowledge at the moment, nor is accuracy being tied to jobs.

-Removing Esuna is a sin that I won't commit, though I agree that White Mages/Green Mages still need a little something.

-As far as a job with debuffs on all enemies, that would get broken pretty fast, IMO.

-Unfortunately, imbuing elements for more than a single strike is currently impossible without heavy ASM.

-Anti-Beastmaster would basically be Hunter/Dragoon, making it a little redundant.

-2v2/3v3 and V-Shaped AoEs are currently not possible at present.

-We currently know little about Chocobo Knights, but their animations are probably hardcoded.

-We can't do anything akin to FFV's job mastering system at present.

@Madeen: I don't think adding jobs to other races is possible at the moment, and if it were it'd require quite a bit of spritework and such.

@Blank: Two steps ahead of you. Already working on a TO-themed Dragoon with the ability to glare at Dragons to Intimidate them. :v
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on October 03, 2015, 01:50:02 am
White Mages and Green Mages suffer the problem of being fragment classes. They're ultimately two parts of the classic school of white magic, with a few more spells like Holy and Raise being notably moved to even more classes.

The White Mage has 3 spells focused on resurrection, 2 on restoring status, and 3 more on just restoring HP. NO VARIETY AT ALL. Ditch some redundant nonsense for Holy and Barrier. The Bishop can still petrify so he's not going to be obsolete any time soon.

Green Mage has Sleep, Leap, and Blind. That's not bad, really. Maybe factor in their access to hammers with something that damages and inflicts multiple debuffs at close range?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 08, 2015, 08:04:27 pm
Over the past week or so, I've been brainstorming ideas to rebalance weaponry in a way similar to FFTA GG. Items are split into three tiers of strength, but shops don't upgrade the same way in A2, so the tier really only affects the base ATK of the weapon. I've drafted up a basic list of what I think would be cool for each weapon. Thoughts?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YYfbdf3BE0mq9Iv0Tkr9J00MwIkhs4ji9Pk3iaJHLX0/edit?usp=sharing

EDIT: Also added Shields, Armor, and Accessories.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 09, 2015, 02:55:14 pm
Do items need to be tiered in the same way as TA? If anything, you could split them into 5 tiers depending on the A-E rank at the bazaar.

Given how equipment becomes available through loot, instead of shop levels you could always control access to equipment through one of:



That way you could offer gradual increases, or save a really awesome item for late in the game.

Specifically on your list:



a couple ideas:

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 09, 2015, 10:09:49 pm
I'm aware of how A2's Tier systems work, but having three tiers is a lot easier to balance than five, IMO.

Status immunity is very rare in A2 GG. I want things like Astra to be more useful, and for debuffs to be more crippling. As such, I'm playing around with making it rarer. Also, as I mentioned in an above post, I can't give items more than one ailment immunity, so it's a waste of an accessory to focus on ailment immunity.

Shoes/Boots are meant to be about traversing the environs more easily.

Everyone can equip one accessory, so why not use that slot for a bonus boost?

Some weapons are hodgepodges for a reason: to promote diverse classes. For example, the Orichalcum Dirk gives +10 MAG, which suddenly makes your Thief having Black Magick as a secondary more viable.

Believe me, if I had more space like I do in FFTA GG to edit items, they would have tradeoffs. Unfortunately, FFTA2 just doesn't have that capability like FFTA does.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Kaijyuu on October 09, 2015, 10:31:33 pm
I dunno if this is reasonably doable, but there's one thing I've always wanted for A2...

...the goddamn teleport boots to use the fast teleport animation, not the really friggin' slow one.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 10, 2015, 10:24:27 pm
@Kai: Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that! :P

@Everyone else, it's been a bit, but here's a new job! Well, new to FFTA2 anyways. Behold, the Reaver! Replacing Lanistas, the Reaver is a Dark Knight to its very core. A great support job, Reavers focus on softening up enemies if they fail to outright murder them. Three of their skills focus on sacrificing their HP, but they have Shadowblade to restore their HP if it gets low enough. They synergize well with Vikings, being able to use Duskblade to restore MP if they get worn out from casting Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga too much.

Souleater: Deals heavy non-elemental damage to a single adjacent unit at the cost of the user's HP.
Shadowblade: Drains HP from a unit, but requires a bladed weapon to be used.
Duskblade: Drains MP from a unit, but requires a bladed weapon to be used.
Fearful Impact: Deals normal weapon damage to a unit, and may decrease the target's Attack and Defense.
Charon: Sacrifices the user to deal damage equal to the user's lost HP to units adjacent to the user.
Unleash: Raises the user's Attack and Magick, but decreases its Defense and Resistance.
Scourge: Deals reduced physical damage, but knocks back all surrounding units and may reduce their Resilience.
Shadowbreak: Deals ranged damage that bypasses defenses, but also harms the user.

Below are some pics of the skillset and other text changes:

http://imgur.com/a/eZx80

EDIT: Grenades are mostly functional. I did some testing and they act similarly to hand cannons, and can be used correctly by sprites that would be able to use hand cannons. They use a hand cannon sprite in battle, but the sound effect is different. Further testing ahead.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Bonesy on October 10, 2015, 11:58:01 pm
This is looking to be most excellent and a nice change of pace from regular TA2.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 11, 2015, 06:00:09 pm
Thanks, Bonesy! I'm trying to make the game a little more interesting!

Not to be left out, the Gria have a new job to replace the boring old Raptor. Behold, the Vartan! Based slightly on Canopus from Tactics Ogre PSP, the Vartan is a true hybrid job between mage and melee, able to hold their own on both ends. They focus on wind and sky-based attacks, being able to buff and debuff at the same time, and being able to Dualcast and Magick Frenzy with their wind magicks. They're designed to be played many different ways, so one person may prefer to use them as a melee unit with Tailwind, Updraft, and Bulwark, or someone else may prefer to play them as a mage, using Storm and Zephyr to decimate enemies from afar.

Gale: Deals minor Wind damage in a large AoE.
Updraft: Bestows Move Up on the user and surrounding allies, and inflicts Immobilize on surrounding enemies.
Tailwind: Bestows Haste on the user and surrounding allies, and inflicts Slow on surrounding enemies.
Storm: Dualcast either Gale, Cyclone, or Whirlwind.
Cyclone: Deals moderate Wind damage in a small AoE.
Bulwark: Grants total immunity to damage for the turn, but the user becomes more susceptible to debuffs.
Zephyr: Casts Gale, Cyclone, or Whirlwind on enemies and then strikes the enemy(ies) with a weapon attack.
Whirlwind: Deals heavy Wind damage to a single unit and may inflict Confuse.

http://imgur.com/a/3PGmH
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 12, 2015, 11:06:52 am
Hey I'm new here, probably stating the obvious, but, I was wondering, I too use the Job editor and Ability editor Lennart made, so how exactly do you change ability names and descriptions? I know its not from inside the tool; I've been learning hex editing for a couple days now and I've been wondering cause I could help you in any way you need with this project.

Have also been trying to edit equipment with the equipment editor aka the Nightmare 1 Module and I've had no luck adding the 16 missing jobs to the jobs.txt because of the different offsets between Race specific jobs for the Gria and the Seeq, or maybe I'm wrong?

I too look forward to FFTA2GG, but I also want to learn how to edit stuff myself, I really really really really love this game and ever since I first played it back in 2008 I have fallen in love with it, so I know I can just use the tools and such to edit the game but I want to learn the hardcore stuff too. I have plenty of time on my hands as of late, so I can spend days at a time fixing, editing, testing, etc. and adding new ideas to your mod as well as being able to maybe one day make something awesome like this one.

What I want to do is a version of FFTA2 in which weapons, armors, shields, etc. are the most important stat modifier. What I mean by this is having the right equipment means everything when fighting enemies, also lowering all base stats by quite a bit maybe even 30% so that you spend more time tinkering with equipment and change what items the Bazaar and the Auctions can give you. Shields have actual Defense stats instead of "Evasiveness", Heavy Armors have Negative effects such as speed loss when wearing heavy armor also based on what its made from and the description of what its made from. For example:



"Maximillian Made from Low Arcana, Dipraeu Bronze & Wyrm Carapace:

44 DEF so (5% of 44 = 2.2) so (44 / 2.2 = 20) "-20 Speed Stat" + Materials "Metals, Scales & Gemstones"

Dipraeu Bronze: An alloy enchanted with special regenerative magicks. Small scratches in its surface mend of their own accord.

-This could mean "Regen" or something along those lines.

Wyrm Caparace: Together with scales, this thick carapace provides great protection for a dragon. It retains its strength even after several blows.

-This could mean Fire Resistance or Immunity, again an idea.

Low Arcana: This gemstone contains the soul of a monster. Its shape and hue are truly unique.

-I have no ideas on this one but we could work something out or just base the major stats on one or two of the materials, like the one that composes most of the item.


Stuff like that and such. Same thing for weapons Greatswords, have "great" attack but they lower your accuracy and speed, little changes like that to equipment make a big difference in how you play and what you use. Its just an early idea but its something I've been thinking.

Also give every ability in the game a minimum Mana cost of 12(except for fire, thunder & blizzard) to simulate a sort of Stamina cost and a recovery time if 12 or more is used. If 12 is used which I think is the best, you wait one turn but afterwards you regain 10 meaning you had 20-12=8 then regenerate 10 more to have 18 and so on.

What this means is you get to use abilities for a bit until you have no mana/stamina left and have to recover while giving melee based abilities more damage, stat bonuses, debuffs, etc. so that using an ability is chosen over a melee attack always, again this is to make you think of what to use when to use them. Since FFTA2 Regenerates Mana from 0 unlike FFTA its the only way I see of doing this, Unless you change the Base Mana regen to something like 5 and give yourself max Mana when starting the fight like in FFTA.

Have Racial bonuses and weaknesses sorted by the description at the intro video after you let the main menu screen play its music, on top of height, size, and where they each live or maybe something along those lines. For example http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bangaa and add into account that they're cold blooded and have scaly skin to give them more base defense, but a weakness to ice maybe. Humes would be evened out in all stats and neutral against every element except Dark, etc.   

Also change the three basic elements Fire, Lightning & Ice and how they work, Giving them different Ranges and AOEs like this:


Fire: Has the most balanced arsenal, decent range, decent damage, and a magic sized AOE, With the exception of Firaga which has a Summon Sized AOE.

Thunder: Has the most range, the least damage and is the most accurate for those single target attacks single tile only, with the exception of Thundaga which has an Hit all enemy Units range.

Blizzard: Has the least range, the greatest damage because its both magical and psychical, and it has summon like AOE.


This would greatly increase the tactical decision making and difficulty while keeping semi broken abilities limited by their cost. I realize the game might be a little slower to some but since this is a tactical game I would not expect it to be fast to begin with, so to remedy this I suggest increasing the minimum "Move" by 1 maybe 2 before doing all of the actual equipment editing, to have all base stats sorted out and balanced.

Well that's my two cents, thanks for reading this if you did I really appreciate what you're doing here, it takes love and dedication for such a wonderful game to spend the time to make it even better.


Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 12, 2015, 12:18:06 pm
Quote from: Rfh on September 30, 2015, 11:38:47 am
FFTA2 Speed system is very similar to FFT, the difference is the CT cap in FFT is 100 and the CT cap in FFTA2 is 1000.
If in FFT haste is a bit breaking status, (it multiplies speed by *1,5) in FFTA2 it multiplies speed by *2! It is exaggerated, and also Slow, that divides speed at 50%. It means that while the rest of the units attacks two times, the slow unit only attack once. Slow and Haste need to be modified, but I don't know how. And the same with the speed down, that has the same effect that Slow, but for always...

Actually wouldn't it be better to simply lower the accuracy on all Haste/Slow related abilities? I mean as a temporary solution.
This would ensure that you think twice before casting a slow of haste spell, thus making you waste a turn if you miss.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on October 12, 2015, 02:01:14 pm
Quote from: Eternal on October 11, 2015, 06:00:09 pm
Thanks, Bonesy! I'm trying to make the game a little more interesting!

Not to be left out, the Gria have a new job to replace the boring old Raptor. Behold, the Vartan! Based slightly on Canopus from Tactics Ogre PSP, the Vartan is a true hybrid job between mage and melee, able to hold their own on both ends. They focus on wind and sky-based attacks, being able to buff and debuff at the same time, and being able to Dualcast and Magick Frenzy with their wind magicks. They're designed to be played many different ways, so one person may prefer to use them as a melee unit with Tailwind, Updraft, and Bulwark, or someone else may prefer to play them as a mage, using Storm and Zephyr to decimate enemies from afar.

Gale: Deals minor Wind damage in a large AoE.
Updraft: Bestows Move Up on the user and surrounding allies, and inflicts Immobilize on surrounding enemies.
Tailwind: Bestows Haste on the user and surrounding allies, and inflicts Slow on surrounding enemies.
Storm: Dualcast either Gale, Cyclone, or Whirlwind.
Cyclone: Deals moderate Wind damage in a small AoE.
Bulwark: Grants total immunity to damage for the turn, but the user becomes more susceptible to debuffs.
Zephyr: Casts Gale, Cyclone, or Whirlwind on enemies and then strikes the enemy(ies) with a weapon attack.
Whirlwind: Deals heavy Wind damage to a single unit and may inflict Confuse.

http://imgur.com/a/3PGmH


Interesting.  However I hope Geomancers will make up for this class' lack of elemental diversity.
If they face enemies strong against wind they're practically useless.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 12, 2015, 02:03:01 pm
A couple more thoughts:

- Have you thoughts about adding HP/MP boosts to equipment (e.g. HP +100, MP +20%)?
- Is it possible to add more doublecast-like abilities? By this I don't mean doublecasting magic, I'm thinking about pretty OP skills that you can't unlock until fairly late in the game that also take a ton of AP to master
- Can you give equipment negative stat modifiers? (e.g. +10ATK, -10DEF) That shouldn't run afoul of the one additional property per equipment rule
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 12, 2015, 04:44:25 pm
Quote from: chocolatemoose on October 12, 2015, 02:03:01 pm
A couple more thoughts:

- Have you thoughts about adding HP/MP boosts to equipment (e.g. HP +100, MP +20%)?
- Is it possible to add more doublecast-like abilities? By this I don't mean doublecasting magic, I'm thinking about pretty OP skills that you can't unlock until fairly late in the game that also take a ton of AP to master
- Can you give equipment negative stat modifiers? (e.g. +10ATK, -10DEF) That shouldn't run afoul of the one additional property per equipment rule


-You can't add HP and MP with the tools that are available right now:
(http://i.imgur.com/HzEyT6z.png)
You can however modify weapons to add stats but not decrease them, but I bet eventually we will find a way to modify HP and MP much like the AR codes do and apply it to Equipment, unless I missed something and there is an equipment that raises HP or MP?

-I don't know about Double Cast that much but from what I can tell if it works like "Magick Frenzy" then it should be possible to add an ability to the pool of abilities it can use. Like this:
Quote from: BadgerLordZeus on October 09, 2014, 02:11:45 pm
Forgive me for necroposting again, but I was playing around with the A-ability editor and I found out the use for one of the 'unknown' check boxes on the second page. Its related to whether or not an ability can be used with Magick Frenzy. You can see the box highlighted below.
(http://i.imgur.com/HTgggqj.png)

I know you meant "like doublecast" but this is the closest I can get to answering that question. xD

-That last one is the one that would make me so happy if someone could find out how to do it.  :(
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 12, 2015, 10:38:30 pm
Hello, and welcome to FFH, Agentlovac! It's always nice to see people interested in modding FFTA/FFTA2. First off, please don't double post. You can edit your posts using the button at the upper right hand corner of your post.

Secondly, attached to this post is a folder containing all of the tools I use for modding FFTA2. This includes (importantly), the FFTA2 Spreadsheets, which are a goldmine of information and addresses, the hex editor Goldfinger, the text table to use with it, Blanky's equipment editing module with Nightmare 2, and the Job/Ability editors. They should be fairly obvious in how to use them, but if you have any questions, let us know!

Now, to address your individual points...

-Things like negative stats, auto statuses, and accuracy modifications on equipment is not possible.

-Units in FFTA2 GG start with max MP and MP does not regenerate.

-Fire/Thunder/Blizzard magicks have their own individual gimmicks in most mods I make, including A2 GG.

@Madeen:

-Geomancers in A2 have access to Fire, Water, Ice, and Dark. This means that with the Vartan's Wind, you've got quite a few elements covered.

@Chocolatemoose:

-Giving HP/MP bonuses to gear is not currently possible.

-You can easily create new Dualcasting abilities. Dualcast still exists in A2 GG, as does Storm. Storm is just a version of Dualcast, but I limited it so Gale, Cyclone, and Whirlwind are the only Dualcastable skills that the Gria race has access to.


Today's new job is the Samurai, taken from FFT/FFTA GG! Not fancy by any means, but the Samurai acts as a hybrid job for Humes, usable in different ways depending on how you've grown your unit. They can smack things in the face with their katanas for heavy damage if you've used physical jobs, or you can use Iaido skills to magickally destroy nearby enemies if you've been raising your Hume as a mage. Samurai are evasive tanks, being able to be thrust into the thick of battle and easily evade attacks. One of their Iaido skills, Adazakura, even boosts their Evasion and Critical Hit rate.

Murasame: Restores the HP of all units surrounding the user in a large area, Water Elemental.
Osafune: Damages the MP of all units surrounding the user.
Ashura: Deals Fire damage in a line in front of the user.
Nosada: Bestows Protect and/or Shell on all units surrounding the user in a large area, may flat-out miss a unit.
Kotetsu: Deals Dark damage and may Blind units surrounding the user.
Ama-no-Murakumo: Deals Wind damage and may Slow units surrounding the user.
Adazakura: Bestows Evasion Up and Critical Up on the user.
Sumihomura: Deals tremendous damage to units surrounding the user in a large area, may hit the user, but can be evaded.

http://imgur.com/a/5fBkD


FFTA2 Modding Tools:
https://www.sendspace.com/file/ua53zg
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 13, 2015, 11:38:11 am
Thank you a bunch for this, you have no idea. Also, was wondering if its possible to give Black Mages Dragoon Abilities like Thunder Breath, Fire Breath and Ice Breath?
Will the animation make the game crash or is there a way to assign the animation?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 13, 2015, 12:51:25 pm
Apologies, I could have been clearer with my nod to doublecast-like: I wasn't referring to doublecasting, I was referring to OP abilities that usually don't become available until late game and cost a lot to master. Ultimas fall into this category as well.

Just a different way of structuring abilities.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on October 13, 2015, 01:47:29 pm
Thanks for your replies Eternal :)

And yay another class with magic skills!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 13, 2015, 02:12:36 pm
Quote from: chocolatemoose on October 13, 2015, 12:51:25 pm
Apologies, I could have been clearer with my nod to doublecast-like: I wasn't referring to doublecasting, I was referring to OP abilities that usually don't become available until late game and cost a lot to master. Ultimas fall into this category as well.

Just a different way of structuring abilities.

Well, which abilities did you have in mind?
I could come up with a very op ability like a "Thundaga" with an insane range or "Hit all Units" and has a chance to "Blind" at the same time, and maybe apply it to a Custom job like Eternal did.

like this:

(http://i.imgur.com/rZjqFPN.gif)
Thunder:
-Added Blind Effect with a 0.25x Normal Chance.
-Changed Targeting Radius to 1 tile.(its a precision tool mostly to finish off enemies)
-Changed Damage from 20 to 15.
-Changed Range to 6 & height difference to 4.

Thundara:
-Added Blind Effect with a 0.5x Normal Chance.
-Changed Targeting Radius to 1 tile.(its a precision tool mostly to finish off enemies)
-Changed Damage from 40 to 30.
-Changed Range to 7 & height difference to 5.

Thundaga
-Added Blind Effect with a 1x Normal Chance.
-Changed Targeting Radius to Hit All Enemies.
-Changed Damage from 60 to 40.

This is actually part of my log for the mod I'm making.

Oh and Eternal, I thought this might help you browse in Gold Finger smoother, I know it helped me.  :?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 13, 2015, 08:42:44 pm
I think the next jobs I'm going to work on are Dragoon (not much will be changing with them), Animists (plans as of yet undecided), Flintlock (which will likely be a physical job based on combining the powers of Summons with their Hand Cannons), and Beastmasters (which will probably remain similar, but focus more on buffing Charmed monsters). These are just very base ideas, of course. I have lots of ideas floating through my head. :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 13, 2015, 10:14:07 pm
Nice, well if you need any help don't hesitate to ask, I'll try my best to help you with your mod as well, us modders need to work together.  ;)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 13, 2015, 10:28:36 pm
While I was in my shower, I had a brilliant idea. I'm currently drawing up two jobs. One is replacing the Flintlock and is an Engineer job. Basically, it'll involve lots of lasers and the Moogle will have the ability to literally nuke enemies. It's a physically-oriented job that is more about blowing the enemy to pieces, whereas the Moogle Knight is more defensive and the Fusilier is more of a saboteur. I'm also working on making the Spellblade a true Spellblade. I'm giving it abilities that allow it to effortlessly switch between being effective at magick and being effective at physical attacks. Animists are also going to be more... animal-y in their next carnation, being able to summon swarms of bees and act as a Moogle White Mage, with Cuisine consuming an HP Critical monster to fully restore the user's HP and MP.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 14, 2015, 12:07:02 am
QuoteBasically, it'll involve lots of lasers


WANT.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 14, 2015, 12:46:21 am
(I've really gotten fast at making all these custom jobs. Testing everything, it worked right the first go, too, for the most part. And what didn't work was easily fixed. Hurrah!)

Introducing the Engineer job! Shockingly, it is NOTHING like FFT's Engineer. FFTA2 GG's Engineer is the equivalent to a physical version of a mage's nuking job, able to deal heavy damage over areas, and able to tear through enemy defenses. They can boost their own accuracy, cut through enemy defenses, deplete MP, and literally nuke enemies. Yes. With a nuke. Don't piss Montblanc off, kupo. I somehow think of Metal Gear Solid with this job...

Intel: Boost's the user's Critical Hit Rate, Accuracy, and/or Evasion. One, two, all, or none of these procs may actually activate- it's all luck based. Afterall, intel can be wrong!
Healbot: Pays an army of healing robots to heal an ally. HP restored is based on Gil spent.
Satellite Ray: Deals physically-based damage to units in a small AoE by firing lasers from space.
Photon Ray: Fires a laser that damages the enemy's body and mind, dealing both HP and MP damage.
Flashbang: Throws a flash bomb that deals damage and Blinds non-Undead units and Delays undead units.
Terraforming: Scathe the land with lasers, removing all statuses (good and bad) from all units.
Laser Burst: Fires an incredibly focused laser in front of the user in a line, dealing defense-piercing damage.
Fallout: Nuke units in a large area, dealing heavy physical damage that cannot miss and may inflict Poison.

http://imgur.com/a/Y6LD4
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 14, 2015, 10:10:06 am
Dam you work fast, great idea, seems a little too much off theme for me wit lasers and space age tech xD, but awesome job nevertheless. How exactly do you give lasers to Moogles animation wise? xD

What I mean is how do you replace animations in general? Like giving the camouflage animation to a skill I created for another job, since I can't give camouflage to another job apparently.

To be more specific I want to change Steal Items to Camouflage but the animation is all wrong and I know that Moogles do have the "arms up" animation that the Seeq does when using camouflage, and I'm also assuming the aura animation while doing it is a separate animation right?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on October 14, 2015, 09:33:37 pm
Quote from: Eternal on October 13, 2015, 10:28:36 pm
with Cuisine consuming an HP Critical monster to fully restore the user's HP and MP.


WANT.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 14, 2015, 10:30:20 pm
@Agent: It's actually pretty canon, wild as it may seem. Recall that in FFTA, Moogles had Famfrit as their Totema, who called down myriad lasers to nuke the battlefield. That's partially what the job was based on. In the A2 Spreadsheet that was included with the suite, there's a tab for animations. Using that is key to making your abilities work properly, graphics-wise.

Today's new job is a not-so-new job. Behold the SPELLBLADE! ...the Spellblade? That's not new at all! Well, the job itself may not be, but it's been totally overhauled. The Spellblade is able to quickly shift between mage and warrior literally over the course of a single turn, and is able to switch between them as the battle requires it. Using Warmage at the start of battle and blasting enemies with Ruin (or Summon Magick), and then using Inquisitor and going in for the kill with Blitz is only one example of switching up on the fly. They're a hybrid job that's able to be as versatile as one needs, focusing on the Viera's vast array of varied skills. The job itself was based heavily on Cecil from Dissidia, capable of shifting from Paladin to Dark Knight as the battle dictated.

Inquisitor: Increases the user's Attack and Defense, but decreases Magick and Resistance.
Warmage: Increases the user's Magick and Resistance, but decreases Attack and Defense.
Ruin: Deals moderate non-elemental damage in a small AoE.
Blitz: Deals weapon damage around the user.
Paradigm Shift: Inverts an ally's HP and MP.
Wisplight: On allies, restores 25% of the target's Max HP, and on enemies deals 25% Max HP damage. Extends the duration of buffs and debuffs on the target, perfect for use with Elementalists, Green Mages, and Assassins.
Sanguinate: Deals magickal damage to a distant enemy and restores the user's HP.
Fearsiphon: Deals physical damage to a distant enemy and restores the user's MP.

http://imgur.com/a/ZIkF4
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Agentlovac on October 15, 2015, 10:02:58 am
OMG Derp...(http://i.giphy.com/13UFXnlztiua08.gif) I brain farted, I forgot this its an excel sheet for a moment, the tabs... below.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 17, 2015, 11:13:26 pm
Only a few classes left to overhaul, and today's preview is the Scholar overhaul! Basically stronger versions of Illusionists in Vanilla (Magick Frenzy aside), Scholars are now the primary buffing job of the Nu Mou. Whereas Green Mages can buff over wide areas, their buffs are temporary. Scholars focus on buffing single units, but their buffs are more effective and longer lasting. For example, the Green Mage can use Protect over a wide AoE, but the Scholar's Protect comes packaged with Defense Up, meaning that once Protect fades, the target's DEF will still be heightened. Likewise, a unit with both Protect AND Defense Up will enjoy a much heightened physical damage reduction for three turns. Lore pairs well with White Magick for a true White Mage experience. They can also blink around the field until they get in a more advantageous position and restore their own MP.

Veil: Bestows Astra and Resilience Up on the target.
Paling: Bestows Protect and Defense Up on the target.
Magick Barrier: Bestows Shell and Resistance Up on the target.
Regen: Bestows Regen in a small AoE.
Teleport: Warps the user to a random location and allows it to immediately act again afterwards.
Vigilance: Makes an ally immune to damage, but vulnerable to debuffing abilities until its next turn.
Boon: Bestows two random buffs on the target.
Meditate: Restores 50 MP to the user.

http://imgur.com/a/pM1cU
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Jumza on October 18, 2015, 01:35:10 am
Quote from: Eternal on October 17, 2015, 11:13:26 pm
Teleport: Warps the user to a random location and allows it to immediately act again afterwards.


I'm amazed that FFTA2 was able to handle creating an ability like this, sooo cool!

But, does it have a large cost? If it was low I could see myself just spamming this over and over again whenever I got into a bad situation to get into a more favourable position.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 18, 2015, 01:38:20 am
FFTA2 has a ton of versatility for abilities. I simply made the ability to act like Telega on the user and have it bestow Quicken directly afterwards, so the user gets another turn. It costs 18 MP, IIRC. Honestly, it's kinda fun just to spam. As my luck would have it, though, the first time I used it poor Orland warped onto a Charm Trap...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Jumza on October 18, 2015, 01:47:54 am
It can trigger traps too? That's very cool as well. Impressive work Eternal :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 20, 2015, 07:39:00 pm
With regard to equipment only possessing one property - how does FFTA2 treat items like the Ensanguined Shield? The in-game description says Ensanguined Shield / Dark, then Weak: Fire. Is the Dark elemental there just a throwaway?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 22, 2015, 07:54:36 pm
By the look of it, it's just a throwaway, unless there's some hidden property in that. I guess I'll do some testing later. FFTA had that quirk as well, I believe, except it had multiple equipment properties.

EDIT: Maybe the element is also used in Shield Bash?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on October 23, 2015, 09:31:58 am
I think you're right - it has to do with element on attack. To give another couple examples:

- Flametongue / Fire vs. Venus Blade / Fire, Absorb: Fire
- Firewheel Rod / Fire vs. Flame Rod / Fire, Immune: Fire

All the level 2 and 3 rods exhibit this behavior.

Per the TA2 wikia, it looks like the first one is the item's inherent element and the second one is other effect.

While this wouldn't allow for several buffs/debuffs on equipment, it looks like if an element is in the cards there is some room to play with a couple. Fire / Weak: Ice? Fire / Weak: Fire?

Also, in the other effect category, how is it coded that the Cachusha and Barette are immune to a number of debuffs, but not all? That seems to break the only one other effect rule.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: GasT87 on October 23, 2015, 12:05:46 pm
There are specific properties for stuff like the Ribbon or the Orb of Minwu, there are 3 levels for it Immune to some/several/all. It was probably made that way to save on space on the cartridge, so instead of having various bits per item to indicate immunities and the like they just one Byte with 255 different possible properties (from 00 to FF)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 25, 2015, 10:38:35 pm
I'm thinking of releasing a beta with all the new job changes soon. It'd be literally just job changes, but would you all be interested in trying it? The ultimate goal is to release something along with FFTA GG at the same time.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 29, 2015, 12:13:56 am
It's been a bit, but I'm happy to introduce a new, and very different job for Nu Mou! (Nu Mou get a lot of loving in FFTA2 GG!) The Daemon job! While technically human, the Daemon has some very interesting quirks that makes it unique among Nu Mou. For one, they have very high physical growth, and unarmed attack strength almost equal to that of the Master Monk's, making them able to claw through most enemies with ease, with enough hard work. Secondly, Daemons have complete absorption to the Dark element, but halves Holy, meaning things like Cure/Cura/Curaga won't be as effective. Thirdly, Daemons have the ability to teleport directly to their destination, making them capable front-line fighters. Fourth, the Daemon's skillset, Ultima Magicks are directly taken from FFT's final boss, Altima... and it's as powerful as it sounds. At a cost...

...their spells require charging. Yes, spell charging in FFTA2. In order to cast their spells, they must charge with the Focus ability (which comes auto-mastered). Once Focus is used, the caster will be able to use their Ultima Magicks. Such power, however, comes at a cost. When an Ultima Magick is cast, the user will be dispelled of all buffs, and the unit will have to Focus to cast an Ultima Magick again. Basically, the Daemon can fulfill different roles and can tap some very potent effects, but at a price.

Focus: Channels potent magickal powers, allowing the user to use Ultima Magicks.
Mute: Reduces the enemy's MP to 0 with a strange, rending light.
Return: Bends time and distorts space, delaying the turn of units in a large AoE.
Ultima: A variation of Ultima's version, dealing large damage with perfect accuracy in a large AoE.
Despair: Unleashes a wave of distorted energy to dispel buffs from all enemies.
Eschaton: Creates a burst of holy light, damaging enemies and healing allies for large amounts in a large AoE.
All Ultima: Deals damage to all enemies with perfect accuracy.
Grand Cross: Inflicts either Slow, Poison, and/or Addle in a large AoE.

http://imgur.com/a/2XmGC

EDIT: Sages have lost Ultima and gained Omega, which is basically Llednar's. High MP cost, deals 2x physical damage to a single unit within weapon range. Yay Omega!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on October 29, 2015, 03:19:30 pm
Daemon sounds interesting :) I'm glad Nu Mou get much love, they were already interesting in vanilla... as a result I always had 2 Nu Mou's in my party, looks like it wont change in this hack :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on October 29, 2015, 09:20:39 pm
The Daemon should be interesting to test (and balance!), if it's not horribly broken, haha. Just a heads up to everyone: only a few new jobs are left to be made! Some thoughts I've been toying with:

Myrmidon (formerly Defender): From FFTA GG, except with a focus in FFTA2 GG of breaking gear and lowering stats as well as dealing damage.

Succubus (formerly Assassin): A job inspired by another FFTA2 job- Al-Cid's Agent. The Succubus would have a variety of effects based on the gender of their prey. Al-Cid would acquire a new skillset.

Hero (formerly Moogle Knight): A job with much needed healing capabilities for the Moogle race, similar to a Paladin, but with a heavier emphasis on magick than blade as far as their skillset is concerned.

Wood Warden (formerly Elementalist): A job inspired by Rafa and Malak of FFT, Wood Wardens would be a defensive mage, with high defensive stats, capable of using elemental magicks that strike multiple times, each hit randomly hitting either allies or enemies within the AoE. This can be used to deal heavy damage (with a little luck) and heal allies at the same time, similar to Scholars, but infinitely more balanced.

I'm yet deciding on a fifth new job, and I know Animist and Beastmaster will be reworked as well, but those details yet escape me.

EDIT: Note that these jobs are just concepts. I'm playing around with ideas in my head to make them all fun and functional!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 07, 2015, 05:58:22 pm
Abilities are wrapping up! All that remains are some changes to existing jobs, and rebalancing monster jobs/abilities, and I'll be about ready to put out a very beta version of FFTA2 GG!

Here are some changes to look forward to for existing jobs. Text in parenthesis is the new skill name:

THIEF:

Loot Lv.1:              (Loot) Steals a piece of Lv. 1 and Lv. 2 loot from an enemy.
Loot Lv.2:              (Steal HP) Drains HP from an adjacent unit.
Loot Lv.3:              (Loot II) Steals a piece of Lv. 3 and Lv. 4 loot from an enemy.
Loot Lv.4:              (Steal MP) Drains MP from an adjacent unit.
Steal Limelight:        (Steal Armor) Steals an enemy's equipped armor.


WHITE MAGE:

Arise:                  (Holy) Deals tremendous Holy damage to a single unit.
Esuna:                  Now cures all debuffs.
Refresh:                (Wall) Grants Protect and Shell to units in a small AoE.


HUNTER:

Ultima Shot:            (Drill Shot) Inflicts defense-piercing damage.
-RESTORE ULTIMA SHOT TO SKILLSET


SEER:

Magick Frenzy:          Now only works with Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Cura, Esuna, and Raise.
-RESTORE MAGICK FRENZY TO SKILLSET


ANIMIST:

100% Wool:              (Sheep) Bestows Protect and Shell on a single unit.
Catnip:                 (Swarm) Deals minor damage in a large AoE and may inflict Poison.
Toad Song:              (Hawk) Deals moderate damage to a single unit, steals Gil, and may inflict Blind.
Cuisine:                Consumes an adjacent HP Critical monster and fully restores the user's HP and MP.
Tail Wag:               (Tame) Controls a Monster.
Sheep Count:            Inflicts Sleep on an ally, but fully restores HP and recovers some MP.


MOOGLE KNIGHT:

Moogle Attack:          Now knocks back three tiles.
Moogle Guard:           (Moogle Cure) Restores a moderate amount of HP in a small AoE.
Moogle Rush:            (Moogle Dia) Deals heavy damage to an Undead unit and may inflict Stop.
Moogle Shield:          Now bestows Astra to a single unit.
Moogle Aid:             Now removes debuffs from a single unit.
Ultima Charge:          (Moogle Raise) Revives a fallen ally with 50% HP.
-RESTORE ULTIMA CHARGE TO SKILLSET


TIME MAGE:

Hastega:                (Gravity) Deals Dark damage to a unit equal to half of its current HP.
Extend:                 (Comet) Deals heavy non-elemental damage to a single unit.


SAGE:
Esunaga:                (Extend) Extends the duration of buffs and debuffs in a small AoE.
Gigaflare:              Now deals moderate damage in a large AoE.
-RESTORE ULTIMA BLOW TO SKILLSET


DRAGOON:

Bangaa Cry:             (Ascent) Boosts the user's Move and Jump
Wyrmtamer:              Now Controls a Dragon unit.
Wyrmkiller:             Now deals 3x damage to a Dragon unit.


TEMPLAR:

Soul Sphere:            (Reflect) Bestows Reflect on a single unit.


FENCER:

Swarmstrike:            (En Garde) Bestows the user with Counter and Evasion Up.
Checkmate:              (Engage) Attacks a target and bypasses Reactions.
Featherblow:            (Flurry) Attacks four times at half power, each strike with 50% accuracy.
Nighthawk:              (Partings) Attacks an adjacent unit and sends the user back three tiles.


ASSASSIN:

Last Breath:            Now inflicts Doom.
Nightmare:              (Allure) Inflicts Charm on a male unit and Berserk on a female unit.
Rockseal:               (Kiss) Restores a large amount of HP to a male unit and inflicts Critical Up on female units.
Ultima Masher:          (Sadist's Whip) Inflicts heavy physical damage in a line and inflicts Resilience Down.
-RESTORE ULTIMA MASHER TO SKILLSET


SNIPER:

Death Sickle:           (Swiftness) Bestows Haste on the user.


BERSERKER:

Ground Shaker:          (Gaia's Wrath) Deals physical damage to a units in a line and may rend their shields.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 16, 2015, 12:29:31 am
It's been a bit since I've updated (I've been swamped with work), but I'm working on one final job that I think I'm going to really enjoy messing with: a job that focuses on sabotage and directly turning enemies against one another. Literally, possessing them to attack their friends. I'm debating whether I want it to be a spy/scout-like job that focuses on manipulation, backstabbing, and trap/invisibility control, or whether I want it to be a magickal job that uses occult-like abilities to possess, undo damage, and consume the user's HP to inflict various hexes.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: bcrobert on November 16, 2015, 02:48:16 am
Quote from: Eternal on November 16, 2015, 12:29:31 am
It's been a bit since I've updated (I've been swamped with work), but I'm working on one final job that I think I'm going to really enjoy messing with: a job that focuses on sabotage and directly turning enemies against one another. Literally, possessing them to attack their friends. I'm debating whether I want it to be a spy/scout-like job that focuses on manipulation, backstabbing, and trap/invisibility control, or whether I want it to be a magickal job that uses occult-like abilities to possess, undo damage, and consume the user's HP to inflict various hexes.


Are you using that Control idea or is this Charm focused? Also if the theme is "possession" then I would go with the occult thing. And the other one just sounds like a superior Sky Pirate. At that point you might as well just give the new ability to Vaan and be done with it...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 16, 2015, 02:11:10 pm
Yeah, I'm definitely leaning towards Occultist. As far as Possess goes, yes, it'd be Control, but it's the opposite in that it only works on non-monsters. I -really- want to make Beastmaster a new job, but I have such little room for descriptions for their skills that it'd be a pain in the ass.

If I do go ahead with Occultist, they would replace Elementalists and their theme would be blood magick and summoning eldritch abominations. This is the basic skillset I've been planning for them:

Possess: Controls a non-monster unit.
Geist: Reverts a unit's HP and MP to what it was on its previous turn.
Abomination: Inflicts Immobilize in a small AoE.
Offering: Sacrifices the user to revive an ally with full HP.
Elder One: Deals Dark damage to a single target and may inflict Confuse.
Impiety: Deals Earth damage up to four times to either allies or foes. Each hit will randomly hit either foes or allies within the AoE.
Bloodfall: Deals Water damage in a small AoE at the cost of some of the user's HP.
Sanguine Chant: Sacrifices some of the user's HP to restore a target's MP and boost Magick.

The skills are based off of numerous things: Impiety being a reference to FFT's Hell Knight, and Geist being a reference to Bravely Second's Exorcist job. Occultists are adept at keeping a distance from enemies and using their unholy skills to debuff and cripple enemies. Also note that Arise likely won't be a thing in A2 GG, so Offering will be the only way to revive an ally with full HP. With Geist basically being Undo, Time Mages would get Warp, which would teleport enemies in a large AoE randomly around the field.

EDIT: In thinking about it, the uses of Possess are far-reaching. Imagine the enemy using it on your team, or using it on an ally in a better position to attack. It's awesome!

EDIT 2: At this time, the Myrmidon job is finished! Myrmidons are from FFTA GG, with some slight changes. Myrmidons focus on having high defense with their heavy armor, as well as rending gear and having "physical Black Magick", which is basically physical versions of the level 1 Black Magicks. This allows them to debuff and damage from a range, or deal elemental damage from afar.

Blastar: Deals physical damage from afar and rends the enemy's equipped headgear.
Icewolf: Deals physical damage from afar and rends the enemy's equipped shield.
Defend: Reduces damage taken until the user's next turn.
Hellcry: Deals physical damage from afar and rends the enemy's equipped weapon.
Shellbust: Deals physical damage from afar and rends the enemy's equipped body armor.
Frost: Deals physical Ice damage to enemies (not allies) in a small AoE.
Burn: Deals physical Fire damage in a large AoE.
Storm: Deals physical Thunder damage in a small AoE with a high range.

http://imgur.com/a/8bR9h
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 19, 2015, 08:10:18 pm
I've finally decided on a new job to replace Beastmaster! Well, "new" in the sense that it's totally different, but it does technically exist already in FFTA2. The new job will be Druid, and they'll be Geomancers. The Geomancer job itself will remain, but will focus on weather and other skills instead of terrain.

The Druid has access to 21 skills, with 20 of them being based on the terrain that they're currently on. Knowing the lay of the land and the positions of your units and enemies makes this job a fair bit more tactical than the Vanilla Geomancer. Each terrain has access to 4 skills, making it far more flexible than the Gria version. Druids will retain the Beastmaster's stats, meaning that if you wish to grow certain stats, the Druid is still a viable option. Note that this job is REALLY big with a lot of new skills, so it's going to take a while to create.

Proposed Skillset:

NO TERRAIN NEEDED:
-Tame: Directly Control a monster unit.

WATER TERRAIN:
-Squelch: Restores a small amount of HP to a single unit and purges it of its debuffs.
-Aqua: Deals moderate water damage to a single unit four times, with each hit having reduced accuracy.
-Torrent: Deals minor water damage to a single unit with a chance to inflict Frog.
-Flood: Deals heavy Water damage in a large AoE.

NATURAL TERRAIN:
-Thorns: Deals minor Earth damage in a small AoE with a chance to inflict Poison.
-Charm: Inflicts Charm on a single monster unit.
-Golem: Covers allies in a small AoE until the user's next turn.
-Breeze: Deals minor Wind damage to a single unit with a chance to inflict Sleep.

ARTIFICIAL TERRAIN:
-Grease: Inflicts Oil in a large AoE.
-Trap: Sets a Sten Needle trap.
-Magnet: Draws units in a small AoE towards the user and deals 25% of current HP's worth of Dark damage to them.
-Lava Ball: Deals minor Fire damage to a single unit with a chance to inflict Death.

GRASSY TERRAIN:
-Gust: Deals moderate Wind damage to a single unit.
-Zephyr: Bestows Haste on allies and Slow on foes that are surrounding the user.
-Vine: Delays a monster unit's turn.
-Tanglevine: Deals minor non-elemental damage to a single unit with a chance to inflict Stop.

BARREN TERRAIN:
-Sirroco: Deals minor non-elemental damage in a small AoE with a chance to inflict Blind.
-Rockfall: Deals moderate Earth damage in a large AoE.
-Sol: Deals tremendous non-elemental damage in a line and leaves the user rooted next turn.
-Contort: Deals minor Earth damage to a single unit with a chance to inflict Petrify.

EDIT: And Druids (at the very least) will be able to traverse water panels, allowing them to use their water skills.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Jumza on November 19, 2015, 08:45:48 pm
How will anyone ever master every ability for these guys? Or will the abilities come in some sort of bundle?

Also cool idea. Where'd all this ability space come from? :o
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 19, 2015, 08:53:42 pm
There were 21 Beastmaster skills in Vanilla, one for each monster type. Fortunately, they all do the same thing, but with different targets, which I can consolidate into one skill. Thus, Tame was born. And their abilities are learned by Instruments, just as the Beastmaster skills were. Many Instruments teach more than one of these skills at a time.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Jumza on November 19, 2015, 09:30:22 pm
Huh, I didn't realize there were so many!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: theultrawolf on November 20, 2015, 02:12:19 am
The Daemon sounds very OP o.o
Aren't Eschaton and All-Ultima (both are Divine Ultima in JP) the same ability though?
Are there even that many Ultima-esque looking abilities in the game? (I know about the weapon Ultimas and the Scion skill, but are there others?)
And isn't Grand Cross already one of the Neukhia's abilities? Or are you changing the Neukhia's abilities too?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Madeen on November 20, 2015, 09:04:55 am
Love the idea of 4 skills per terrain!  Keep up the good work :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 22, 2015, 10:41:14 pm
@Ultrawolf: The Daemon is basically a weird Red Mage for Nu Mou. They can claw things to death (melee) or they can use powerful magicks (magic), but they have quirks to using either effectively. Although Daemon can teleport, I believe their Move will be limited to 3, making it hard to enter the frontlines and effectively use their physical attacks, and in addition to that, their physical defenses will be low. Their magicks are indeed very powerful, but they require charging to be used, and their accumulated charge can be dispelled. Dispelling abilities are very common in FFTA2 GG. Eschaton and Divine Ultima are, indeed, the same ability, but they're different when the Daemon uses it. Eschaton is intended to emulate a lesser version of the Ultima Esper's ability. Neukhia is likely going to be entirely rehauled eventually.

In what was likely the most extensive job/ability edit I've done yet, the Beastmaster is now the Druid. Outlined above, the Druid has access to skills based on their existing terrain. I've found, however, that many tiles can be considered two terrain types at a time. Eitherway, they're versatile warriors who can find use on just about any party. If you can master their wide array of random effects, they can be very effective units. In addition, all Nu Mou can now enter water tiles, allowing them to use the Water terrain skills regardless of job.

http://imgur.com/a/osuGc
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: chocolatemoose on November 26, 2015, 01:20:43 pm
Any plans to mess with some of the unique jobs (Agent/Heritor/Sky Pirate/Bard/Dancer)? Or give Frimelda/Montblanc/Cid/Luso uniques?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 26, 2015, 08:24:20 pm
Bard and Dancer are now akin to their FFT selves, i.e, potentially very powerful. OP, possibly, even. Their skills now focus on affecting either all allies or all enemies, respectively. I want to change Agent, Heritor, and Sky Pirate, but I want to brainstorm ideas first.

Anyhow, I've finished changes to the Fencer. Although their job is still the same in name and flavor, they've been enhanced to focus on swift attacks that focus on bypassing Reactions, as well as evasion and bypassing it. Basically, they're very fast warriors whose skills are useful throughout the game. Note that I won't be creating pictures of the new skills for already existing jobs, since that's just more trouble than it's worth. :P

FENCER:
Shadowstick, Manastrike, and Piercing Blow remain from Vanilla.

En Garde: Bestows the user with Evasion Up, and grants the user Counter Reaction if it does not currently have one until next turn.

Feint: Deals normal damage to a single unit, but deals double damage to units with Reactions such as Counter, Blink Counter, etc. and bypasses those Reactions.

Engage: Damages surrounding units and bypasses their Reactions.

Reprise: Deals up to four hits of damage. The first hit has perfect accuracy, the second has normal accuracy, the third has 50% accuracy, and the final hit has 25% accuracy. Each hit deals 50% damage.

Retreat: Deals damage to an adjacent unit and immediately renders the user Invisible. May be potentially very broken. I forget how the AI acts with Vanish'd units. I'll need to do some testing, but in the meantime, it stays! Because it's cool.

EDIT: Retreat now attacks an adjacent unit and makes the user teleport to a random location. Because that's equally cool.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 28, 2015, 01:13:37 pm
Today's new job is the Occultist, a magick-based job for Viera. Based around the concept of Lovecraftian lore and blood rituals, the Occultist's magicks are not cast with MP, but rather, HP. As such, keeping an eye on their HP is vital, as is using Regen on them, or curing them regularly. Occultists focus on subtle ways of swaying the flow of battle, such as controlling and manipulating enemies and debuffing them. Using an Occultist's skills effectively can quickly change how a battle is faring. All Occultist skills except for Possess consume some of the user's HP.

-Possess allows you to directly control a human unit, be it friend or foe. Used on allies, you can basically give them an extra action at the cost of your turn, although the Possessed unit cannot move. Yes, the enemy AI will use Possess. And yes, they will use it on you. Your strongest warrior is now your greatest liability.

-Geist reverts a unit's HP and MP values to what it was on the unit's previous turn. Used with mages, this allows them to keep firing off powerful spells, or it allows you to heal a unit that took a beating this turn.

-Abomination inflicts Immobilize in a small AoE.

-Offering is one of the very rare sources of full HP revival now that Arise is gone. Offering sacrifices the user to revive an ally from the dead with full HP.

-Elder One is the highest damaging, non-gimmicky, non-fractional source of Dark damage in the game, dealing heavy Dark damage to a single unit and potentially inflicting Confuse.

-Squassation deals non-elemental damage to a single target and drains it of its accumulated Smash Gauge, allowing the user to more quickly summon those OTHER eldritch abominations (aka Scions).

-Sanguis is the highest source of Water damage in the game aside from gimmick skills, and it deals that damage in a small AoE.

-Xenoglossia restores a unit's MP by 20% of the user's Current HP and increases that unit's Magick.

http://imgur.com/a/doAbO
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Bonesy on November 28, 2015, 06:30:06 pm
you mean cast with hp and not mp i believe?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: FrozenDragon150 on November 28, 2015, 08:23:12 pm
Sorry for posting this here, but it's the most active thread in this section.

Is there a way to change the windows' size of lennart's tools? I was doing it the hard way, hex editing, but it was too tedious and i wanted to use his tools, problem is, since my laptop's screen is pretty small, a part of the window goes into the toolbar, and i cannot pull it out of it, so i cannot modify some things that go down there, namely Magick and Resistance. Halp :(

Alternatively, is there a way to run them on linux? Wine doesn't work, and all java plugins say that the "Data/Ability.text file doesn't  exist"
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on November 29, 2015, 12:08:50 am
@Bonesy: Correct. I've fixed the post.

@FrozenDragon: I don't believe there is a way to change the size of the window, from what I'm seeing. As for Linux, I know nothing about it, so I'm afraid I can't help with that. :(
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: FrozenDragon150 on November 29, 2015, 12:43:42 am
I see...

Well, i just tried with various programs that forcibly resize, and even though they resized all right, i cannot scroll down and see the data i need to see, so it effectively gives a smaller window but still doesn't allow me to see anything :(
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire
Post by: Eternal on December 25, 2015, 12:45:44 am
As promised, I have a Christmas present for everyone! Attached is an update for FFTA2 GG. It hasn't been tested, but it features all of the new jobs mentioned above and most ability tooltips have been updated. Monster skill tooltips have not yet been updated because I'm still messing around with what I want to do with monsters to begin with. I hope everyone enjoys it!

NOTE: I'm switching to a .ups file format. I created this patch (and it can be patched to a ROM) using Tsukuyomi, which can be found and downloaded here. (http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/519/) Please feel free to let me know of any errors or bugs you find while playing!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: chocolatemoose on December 30, 2015, 09:38:12 am
I've only played a little bit (<10 missions), but here's what I've got so far:

- Reprise causes the Fencer unit to flicker. The flickering isn't consistent and is more likely to happen when another unit uses an ability
- I assume you're aware of the job name inconsistencies (i.e. some places I see Orator, others I see Tinker)
- Wolves are strong! Not saying that in a judgmental way - I haven't played enough or looked at monster stat growths to tell how strong - but the additional move + the 6 range on their blows means that no mage is safe
- Really minor: Fire has +1 AoE, Thunder has +1 range and Blizzard can't target your own party members, correct? I noticed when playing one of the story missions (think it was the tomato-hunting one) that Fire and Thunder also didn't target guests (Cid or Adelle)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on December 30, 2015, 01:22:57 pm
Hi there,

First I need to tell that I register just in order to help with the testing of this hack.
So far it's great, thank you very much Sir Eternal (as there's no news of another FFT)

I am ten hours in and here what I got:

- The flickering of the Fencer after the use of Reprise as chocolatemoose said.
- One of the Lamia attack (the one giving Doom and Charm) seems to be bugged: as the timer for Doom reached zero, the doomed character didn't died but instead received boons (reflect and regen or astra). Plus I think the Doom part of this attack has an accuracy of 100% as every characters got doomed during the mission (it was during the "a voice from the well" mission)
- The Tame ability of the druid didn't seems to work (Should the monster be charmed or in critical status for this skill to work ?)

Here what I can report so far.

Stay tune  :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on December 30, 2015, 08:11:29 pm
Thanks for the feedback, you two! And welcome to FFH, Leyner!

-I already know about Reprise's animation bug. It's something I've tried many ways to fix, but haven't been able to without messing the entire animation, four-hit thing acting up, so I compromised. I knew about it ages ago, but forgot to note it in the topic. Thankfully, it shouldn't cause any crashing or glitching. Whoops. :(

-Name inconsistencies are a little challenging at the moment. I can change text, but a lot of the job names are images, which I currently can't change. Unfortunately, those will have to stay for a bit. If anyone has any questions about what job is what, just let me know and I'll do my best to help as I can!

-Monsters in general will feel really fierce, as is intended. That being said, they're likely to change a fair bit later on. I don't like Wolves being ranged units, for example. I'd much rather they be agile, in-your-face, swarming units.

-Your assumptions about Fire/Blizzard/Thunder are correct. Fire and Thunder should target -any- unit, not just foes. Does it work on regular allies? I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work on Guests.

-Interesting that Doom is bugged. I think, then, that the Doom status is tied to something else... though I'm not sure what that'd be. I feel like using that timer for something other than a Death proc could be a very interesting concept though! After 3 turns being Quickened or something. I must plot!

-What monster did you attempt to Tame? When I tested Tame, it worked (I tested on a Cockatrice) though it should work on any Controllable monster.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on December 31, 2015, 11:38:45 am
Thank for the warm welcome Sir Eternal !

For the Tame skill, I attempted to Tame a Lamia, a Werewolf and a Fire Drake but I was unable to. Those monsters should be controllable I think but monsters stayed in gray (as an invalid target) and couldn't be selected.

Another point I would like to add: I think that spell blade with sub occultist is kinda game-breaking as they use their life for magick attack, can do physical attack, enhanced Attack, Defense, Magick at the cost of only Resistance (Inquisitor+Sanguine chant combo) and heal themselves with sanguinate. I think the synergy is a bit too good between those two job as MP has no use except for the spell blade magick attack (which I rarely use).

The idea behind the two job are really good and I am having fun with them but together... maybe giving one of the job to another race...but it is up to you.

As for the bugged Doom, I don't know if it's the spell or if it's specific of that Lamia attack, I need to test if it is reproductible. All I can say is that during the mission when Lamias used that skill it has that bug and it did it on every doomed character but it was only on that one mission. I will try to find another one with Lamias in it to test the reproductibility.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: chocolatemoose on December 31, 2015, 01:27:58 pm
I can validate the Tame bug. In the Wanted: Ugohr storyline mission I wasn't able to control the wolves or cockatrices. Ran into the same issue in another mission as well.

However, I was able to tame a dreamhare in a clan battle.

@Eternal: when you were able to control the cocktarice, did your nu mou have a Heal Chime equipped, or had learned an ability from the Heal Chime?

I think that I was able to tame the dreamhare because I'd already learned Tame from the Lamia Harp, which has the dreamhare a-ability for the vanilla beastmaster.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on December 31, 2015, 02:28:57 pm
@chocolatemoose
Quote from: chocolatemoose on December 31, 2015, 01:27:58 pm
I think that I was able to tame the dreamhare because I'd already learned Tame from the Lamia Harp, which has the dreamhare a-ability for the vanilla beastmaster.


Do you mean you have Tame and dreamhare as A-ability for the Lamia Harp ?


Edit 1: My bad, saw it wasn't the case :oops:

On another note, I tried fighting by equiping the weapon corresponding to the monster that is controlled by that weapon (ie Blueleaf flute against Bomb and Hurdy Gurdy against Drake) and attempted to Tame said monster but still no luck...
Maybe it's only working with dreamhare ?

Edit 2: Just as chocolatemoose said I was also able to Tame a Dreamhare in a clan battle. But equiping the Demon Bell and trying to Tame the Flan in the adaptibility clan battle did nothing.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 01, 2016, 11:11:03 am
When I tested Tame, it was with a Beastmaster with all Moon Maidens equipped (for all the Speed), with all skills mastered. If you all wish to play with Tame since you'll have quicker access to this all than I will for the next day or so, try downloading the FFTA2 Ability Editor (found on this board), open your ROM, scroll down to ability 112 (Dreamhare), and that's Tame. Try changing the Valid Target from 01 (Controllable Monster) to 27 (Monster) and see if that fixes it. If not, I'll have to do some more messing around of my own, as well. I'm thinking it may be a Clan Battle only thing, since the mission I tested it on was that random Clan Battle in the desert with the Viking, Beastmaster, Thieves, and Cockatrices.

As far as Spellblades and Occultists are concerned, thanks for letting me know how they play! It's great that people are finding good combinations using the new jobs. To be quite honest, I'm not particularly concerned about balance just yet. Of course, I don't want anything downright broken, but I'm focused at this point on making sure the jobs feel fun and unique. Further, once I can properly edit battles, they'll be quite a bit tougher, meaning you may need to use useful combos like that to tip the edge in your favor. Let me know how you feel about how the other jobs play as well! Thanks as always for the feedback!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 01, 2016, 02:23:40 pm
Thank for the tips Sir Eternal.

Remplacing the valid target from 1 to 27 seems to work fine (at least in one of the story mission). I was able to Tame Nightshades, Bombs and Flans (the forrest fire mission)

As for spellblade/Occultist combo, I am glad it could be helpful.

As for the others jobs, I think rending might cause problems as characters can't equip thing during a fight contrary to FFT  :cry:.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 01, 2016, 02:38:50 pm
Glad the fix worked! I'll have to change that for the next update.

Rending gear is supposed to be dangerous, and things like Safeguard are far more useful now because of it. Stealing, Rending, Buffing, and Debuffing are huge in my mods. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Bonesy on January 02, 2016, 02:36:10 am
a decent alternative UPS patcher is NUPS BTW, it's what I usually end up using lol

gonna start playing eventually, I just need to make space for it lol
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 03, 2016, 04:38:02 am
Quote from: Eternal on January 01, 2016, 02:38:50 pm
Rending gear is supposed to be dangerous, and things like Safeguard are far more useful now because of it. Stealing, Rending, Buffing, and Debuffing are huge in my mods. :)


My bad. It's true that I amost never use support abilities like those as there's no need in the Vanilla game  :?
It's a wonder why they put them inside the game but never give them a real use...Now they will be useful at least.

On another note, by praising (focus+crit up) a unit with the "art of war" skillset, I saw that the healing of the "first aid" skill was double (I think it come from the focus state of said unit). Was that effect intended ?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 04, 2016, 09:31:04 pm
It wasn't an intended effect, but I'm not against it. I kinda like it, actually. I think that could also happen in Vanilla as well, since you can Focus on your first turn and then First Aid on the next.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 05, 2016, 04:10:29 am
I see. I never really test it on Vanilla (only Hume would be able to do it I guess as they got access to both "focus" from archer and "first aid" from soldier)

I think I got something on the bugged Doom. I replayed the "Voice from the well" mission and when the Lamia used the Kiss ability I got the bug: when the Doom timer reach 0, it gave me the "Prime" status (and not as I said before, blame my bad memory). While comparing between your hack and Vanilla game with the FFTA2 AE, something strucked me. Doom give death when the timer reach 0 so what if there's a link between "Doom" (0248) and "Death" (00E5). And I saw it: you gave "Death" the prime effect.

So my theory is that whatever X (Target, Effect, etc) you put in "Death" it will use the Doom Timer to launch X when the timer reach 0.

So I guess you could do delayed attack, magick or buffing and stuff like that at the cost of the "Doom giving Death" status

As it's your work I don't dare to touch it further and I hope this was helpful.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: chocolatemoose on January 05, 2016, 12:43:26 pm
Caught a pretty odd bug with Hunter's Oust:

- Used with Hunter on Antlion in the Treehugger mission
- When selected the ability displayed a 100% accuracy rate
- When fired the Antlion showed an animation of scurrying off and away
- However, the Antlion did not leave; it was still on the battlefield with a blind icon above its head, but it was invisible. Not normal invisible, where you can see the unit's shadow - totally invisible save for the blinking blind icon

What conditions need to be met for the Druid's Squelch ability to become active? It's always grayed out for me. Also, I've seen Gust be active and inactive at different points in the same battle. Is that intended?

I usually only manage to play 2-3 battles a day, so my feedback will come in drips and drabs.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 05, 2016, 12:56:26 pm
@chocolatemoose

For Squelch I think I got it once by being on water and for gust you need to be on a soil with herb on it.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 05, 2016, 06:33:30 pm
Thanks all for your feedback! Chocolate, take as long as you'd like! :)

@Leyner: Having Doom proc Primed makes -much- more sense, and it confirms my initial belief. I was very confused when you mentioned the other statuses, but having it proc Primed makes far more sense. And it gives me a great excuse to remove Doom status~

@Chocolate: I'm aware of the Oust bug. It was yet another one I forgot to document. (I kinda suck at those sorts of things, lol.) I'm going to change the animation in a future release so that the glitch won't happen. That being said, it should just be a graphical bug. I don't think it'll cause any crashing or other issues.

In regards to Druids, Squelch activates in water tiles, and Gust is active while on grassy terrain.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 06, 2016, 11:40:49 am
@Eternal

Sorry, I think I was a bit tired when reporting it and my bad memory did the rest.  :oops: :cry:
So does that really mean that Death (00E5) and the doom effect ARE linked ? (the possibilities are awesome if that the case)

But doesn't that mean you get ride of two status (Doom and instant Death) and that you need to redo all abilities that use Doom as an effet ?
So far I found a great synergy between job of a same race and between races. You were able to make me like Nu Mou (Truth to be told, I was never attracted by those guys...I was more Gun-Ho and physical attack) but you did a good job with the druid (why did they give several tame ability for every monster instead of one, such a waste of place and potential). I think coupling it with Daemon would be good but more on that later.
A full support Mog Orator/Engineer seems great at the moment.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 06, 2016, 05:35:01 pm
Correct, Doom and Death are linked. If I were to take advantage of Doom's link, I'd probably tie it to Quicken and make the target take an extra turn after three turns have passed or something. Regardless, that's just an idea. Every ability that inflicts Doom will be changed (it's not a huge change, and it's one I was planning anyways, along with removing Sleep/Stop/Petrify from player hands) since I don't like the idea of being able to kill a unit outright with a debuff. Debuffs should be means to an end, not the end itself. :P

I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the new jobs! I worked tirelessly coming up and sieving through ideas to make jobs feel new and unique, which I hope is what you're also feeling. Moogles will soon be getting revamped jobs (Corsair, Moogle Hero, and a revamped Animist), and Assassins are also being redone. I'd love to hear your feedback of Daemons and other job combinations you're using!

EDIT: I've finished revamping the Assassin job. A very broken job in Vanilla (and not particularly fun, considering you just run up to things and kill them), Assassins are now an all new job, the Kunoichi! The Kunoichi is a very risky job to use, but the reward is well worth the risk, if you know how to properly use them. Kunoichi are evade tanks, much like Assassins were. They're fast and evasive, but their defenses are lacking. The Kunoichi uses Speed and the Viera's low Defense to their advantage. How does a job use low Defense to its advantage? Simple. The Kunoichi's theme is using skills and abilities that are based on the user's lost HP.

That's right. These ninja bunny girls get more dangerous as they get damaged. This pairs nicely with the new Occultist job, whose magicks cost HP. The Kunoichi's secondary also works well with White Mages, which gives them a way to fight back. Kunoichis (like Assassins) can attack at melee range with Katana, from afar with Greatbows, or their skills are mid-range (2 Range). Knowing how to properly protect and use Kunoichis can make them deadlier than a Vanilla Assassin, but it requires far more skill to bring out that potential.

-Hamanoha: Deals MP damage in a small AoE based on the user's lost HP.

-Shikikoyo: Restores a unit's HP equal to the user's lost HP. Basically, the opposite of White Wind. This skill can't target the user.

-Yonin: A very advanced skill, this skill takes the user's current HP down to 10% of its current total and makes it immune to damage until the next turn. That being said, the user becomes susceptible to debuffs, stealing, and rending. On one hand, this quickly makes your Kunoichi a murdering machine. On the other, it makes the Kunoichi a glass cannon once the immunity wears off. Using this basically guarantees at least one giant burst of damage during the battle, but it means you'll have to spend more time healing, rezzing, or fighting without your Kunoichi if it gets sniped.

-Utsusemi: Teleports the user to a random location and bestows Evasion Up. Perfect for getting out of situations where the Kunoichi is surrounded, or for boosting Evasion.

-Shi: Deals damage equal to the user's lost HP. The bread and butter of the Kunoichi's arsenal, Shi is very dangerous late-game when HP totals are high and damage output from other sources begins to dwindle. If the -enemy- is using it, you'd better dispatch them. Quickly.

-Innin: Unleashes a weapon attack that deals increased damage from the sides and behind.

-Boukyaku: Same as Vanilla's Assassin's/Ninja's Oblivion, inflicts Addle.

-Mijin Gakure: Detonates bombs within the user's garments, causing the unit to self-destruct, dealing damage to surrounding units based on the user's Max HP.

http://imgur.com/a/4O4ig

New Moogle jobs coming soon, kupo!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 07, 2016, 09:31:59 am
Oh  :o I am dieing to try those new jobs !

Quote from: Eternal on January 06, 2016, 05:35:01 pmI don't like the idea of being able to kill a unit outright with a debuff. Debuffs should be means to an end, not the end itself. :P
: I think the same about ailments. It's fun to use them because there aren't OHKO.

From what you said I think I'll play Kunoichi ever with a greatbow at a distance or couple with cover from the Paladin or Golem from your druid.

On a side note do you have any project of a job playing only with ailments (something akind to a Dark Hunter or a War Magus from Etrian Odyssey) ?

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 07, 2016, 05:10:37 pm
Honestly, I'm not too familiar with the Etrian Odyssey series. I probably would be if there was a feature to auto-draw maps, though. I imagine it's really cumbersome having to constantly draw your own maps.

Anyhow, the first of three new Moogle jobs is done! Introducing the Corsair! The Corsair is a luck-based jobs with a few quirks for those who don't like leaving their fate in the hands of luck. Corsairs are a support-based job, being able to stay afar with Cards and their Wild Card skills to support allies and wound foes. Wild Card works well as both a secondary or a primary skillset for reasons you'll see once you see the skillset. Having a Corsair with Cards makes the Fusilier skillset a viable secondary as well.

-Coin Toss: Deals heavy physical, defense-piercing damage to either allies or enemies in a large AoE. Similar to Vanilla Tinker skills, but revamped so that you have more control over your luck. The AoE is Summon Magick sized, meaning it's a very large AoE. This means that it's easy to catch your own units in the AoE as well, meaning that if you wish to mitigate the chances of damaging yourself by accident, you need to spread your allies out of the AoE and position them differently ahead of time. That said, Coin Toss deals a large amount of damage, and it does bypass Defense, meaning it can be very effective at killing large swaths of enemies if your luck is right.

-Jinx: Inflicts a randomly chosen debuff from a pool of debuffs onto the target.

-Fortuna Major: Improves an ally's luck by potentially increasing Evasion, Accuracy, and Critical Hit Rate. Since this was essentially the old Intel (Engineer) skill, Intel now reveals traps and invisible units on the field.

-Jackpot: Restores a large amount of HP to either allies or enemies in a large AoE based on Magick, ignores Resistance. Basically Coin Toss, but heals instead.

-Felicity: Bestows a random buff onto the target.

-Snake Eyes: Dualcasts Wild Card skills, Time Magicks, or low and mid level Black Magicks. This is where Moogle mages begin to shine. Before, they lacked the power of the Nu Mou, the grace and versatility of the Viera, and the variety of Humes, but now they can Dualcast Black and Time Magicks (and Wild Card skills, if you like testing your luck). With this, Wild Card becomes a solid secondary for a mage unit, or you can sub a magick skillset as a Corsair. Being a Moogle is great now, kupo!

-Gil Toss: As Vanilla, throws Gil with power increasing if more Gil is sacrificed.

http://imgur.com/a/mb5QY

Revised Animist and Moogle Hero coming soon, kupo!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: chocolatemoose on January 10, 2016, 03:41:30 pm
Looking forward to the updates - the jobs you're sketching out appear very interesting. I'm probably going to hold off on playing more until I can mess around with the new build.

I haven't played around with the Nu Mou as much as I'd like, but so far they seem like they'd actually be useful. I recently finished a fairly completionist vanilla run and my Nu Mou turned out mostly useless for the following reasons: if you're lucky magic hits approximately as hard as physical (excluding parivir/geomancy ridiculousness) even when you have magic pow+ as a passive, and the magic classes are generally slower and have lower HP than the physical ones (viera get around this with the summoner's AoE and red mage's doublecast). So why use Nu Mou magic damage when they'll always be outclassed? This goes double now that MP is (mostly) finite. (I have similar issues with Moogles - Bard/Juggler is the by far the best vanilla combo)

The jobs you've created seem like massive improvements in that they now occupy interesting spaces that didn't use to exist (Necromancer, Daemon, Druid). What makes the Druid useful is that the skills don't use MP and sometimes come with an additional debuff (Thorns is great). This comes at the cost of conditional usage, but I haven't found that to be a problem yet. The only class that I would probably shy away from is the Scholar (damage dealing usually > buffing), but it could become a necessity depending on how hard the enemies hit.

Edit for specificity: the Necromancer could also be more or less useful vs. gimmicky depending on how strong undead units are (similar to the Dragoon with dragons).

My comments beg the question of what you're going to do with stat growths. I saw that you switched up the Daemon's growths, but it didn't look like you touched the others. In the vanilla game I'm much more likely to build Time Mages and Alchemists for the magick growth, in addition to their skill set. Alternatively, this could also be achieved through changing abilities' base power. I guess it comes down to ensuring that magick users continue to be viable late game.

I swapped in my completed save game into the GG build; caught a couple other issues:

- I can change Al Cid to other jobs, but once I change his job I can't change back to Agent
- Flame Rod has Dark listed as an a-ability (for arcanist/daemon), but it also appears unlearnable by Nu Mou (as in there's no AP number listed to learn it)

Update: one other consideration: is it possible to imbue strengths/weaknesses based on weapon type, or is it solely limited to elements?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 11, 2016, 08:18:17 pm
@Chocolatemoose: Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you're having fun!

As far as stat growth is concerned, very little has been changed about it, since there are still many things in the air. Namely, I'm considering capping the max level at 50, but I hate games that cap levels at 50. That being said, balancing things around 99 is infinitely harder. Until I decide for a fact what I want to do, I'm not going to be touching stats very much. As of right now, my goal is to create fun jobs and let the balance figure itself out later. I'm also considering boosting the power of -ga magicks, Flare, Holy, Meteor, etc., though I'm waiting to hear what other people think about that.

Necromancers will likely be given high MAG growth to make up for their skillset later on.

Weapon types can't be bestowed strengths/weaknesses, though that's a cool concept! Unfortunately, it's limited to elements. Also, thanks for reporting those bugs. I knew about Al-Cid (forgot to make him unable to change jobs after testing), and I'll have to investigate Flame Rod. For a while, I had Arcanists learn Dark, so I'm sure that's why.

Today I'm proud to introduce a job based on early FF games and NES RPG heroes- the Moogle Hero! Based on old RPG heroes that could use both blade and magick, and based on the Dragon Quest Hero's ability to use some defensive magicks as well as FFXIII's Sentinel job, the Moogle Hero is a tank with the ability to use offensive White Magicks and healing spells that are differentiated from White Mages. The Moogle Hero is all about taking blows and staying alive while blasting things from afar with Holy spells until they can get close and pound you in the face.

-Vendetta: Damages and knocks a target back, places the user under Defending and Counter statuses, allowing them to mitigate damage and counter attacks until the user's next turn.

-Heal: Restores a small amount of HP to all allies.

-Dia: Inflicts minor Holy damage in a small area and bypasses the effects of Reflect as well as piercing the enemy's Resistance.

-Steelguard: Bestows Defending status on allies in a large area around the user.

-Basuna: Cures Poison, Blind, Oil, Immobilize, and Disable in a small area.

-Diara: Inflicts moderate Holy damage in a small area and bypasses the effects of Reflect as well as piercing the enemy's Resistance.

-Mediguard: Bestows the user with Defending, Regen, Protect, and Shell, making the user a veritable tank, kupo!

-Diaga: Inflicts heavy Holy damage in a small area and bypasses the effects of Reflect as well as piercing the enemy's Resistance.

http://imgur.com/a/JTPTf
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Madeen on January 12, 2016, 10:15:20 am
What I like about your new jobs is that they all seem op :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 12, 2016, 10:52:07 pm
Haha, thanks! I started my test run today and so far things are pretty interesting! I caught a few bugs that have been fixed, and so far my Druid has been my MVP. Being able to turn monsters against each other is incredibly fun and rewarding, and it's been a key strategy in certain fights. Thorns has also been a good way to whittle away at enemies with its Poison proc. I suspect that once I unlock Occultist, she'll be taking MVP in conjunction with my Druid. I'm testing in Hard Mode, and so far, I'm liking the balance of it. Magic/Resistance will definitely need to be tinkered with, but I'm not sure how I want to go about that just yet.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Madeen on January 13, 2016, 04:26:06 am
As long as enemies dont one shot you it should be fine by me :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 13, 2016, 12:45:27 pm
I'm starting working so my test run will be a bit slower. So far the game more enjoyable than Vanilla. My Nu mou is also my MVP and except for battle on artificial soil, he rocks.

On a side note, with the new patch (well I guess there will be one once the new jobs are done), do I need to start from scratch or can I keep my save (in case I'm not done with the game by that time) ?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 13, 2016, 07:45:14 pm
Enemies hit hard on Hard, but I haven't been one-shot. I develop patches in such a way that you should almost never have to restart, so your save will be just fine.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: BearPRIME on January 14, 2016, 02:05:31 pm
Hey Eternal,

firstly i really appreciate the work you've put in it is fantastic.  I am just starting to play it and I really enjoy it.  Monsters are pretty powerful and the range the wolves have is nuts (can literally criple half my team on the first turn).  I will let you know if anything pops up at me while i play through it.  Thanks for the hard work!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 15, 2016, 10:03:15 pm
The -Blow abilities that the Wolves have have been nerfed for the next update. When I realized just how crippling they were, I changed it right away. That being said, most monsters will probably change quite a bit throughout the process. I hope everyone enjoys everything! I should be releasing an update within the next few days.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Madeen on January 16, 2016, 12:10:38 am
I've been thinking... Eternal, may I suggest something?

I'm not sure if you removed it or not but, do you have any plan for oil?

I think as long as it's in the game I'm too tempted to gear my units toward fire.  So maybe you could either remove/change it, or add a similar debuff for other elements as well?

That way all elements are equal, thus giving a better customization option.

What do you think?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 16, 2016, 12:11:37 am
Honestly, I would love for Oil to affect all elements, but I have no idea of how to make that happen. I agree that it does put Fire above the other elements though. Aside from maybe Holy, which a lot of healing skills are.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Madeen on January 16, 2016, 03:20:44 am
Quote from: Eternal on January 16, 2016, 12:11:37 am
Honestly, I would love for Oil to affect all elements, but I have no idea of how to make that happen. I agree that it does put Fire above the other elements though. Aside from maybe Holy, which a lot of healing skills are.


Affecting all elements would be great :)

Well its just an idea, not like there's a rush or anything.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 16, 2016, 07:31:38 pm
I did some more of my test run today and got a little further in the story. I'm going to do Pearls in the Deep on Monday, but I started the Cinqueleur sidequest. Ruuj's AI was really screwed up and only Dualcast Silence instead of using Sanguis for whatever reason, which I'll have to fix when we can edit what abilities enemy units have learned. Blue King fell easily to Quakes cast by himself through Possess (Possess has been kickass in not only using the enemy's strength against them, but allowing allies to act again). The Green King did a number on me with her heavy physical strikes, and Possess is nigh useless in that fight.

So far, Possess has become my MVP (with Tame still useful, but not quite as much since there've been less monsters in fights.) Thorns has also seen a decline in use, but that's mostly because I've been using Sagacity a lot with Water. Water has to be changed slightly. Right now there's no reason to use Aero as Water is better in every way. Aero also has a free brother in Gust (Druid's skillset). Moogle Hero's Heal has also been useful, though Dia isn't working as intended. Apparently the "Bypass Defense" flag literally means bypass Defense- not Resistance- so Dia will likely have to be buffed.

EDIT: Beat Yowie in what was a fun, and not too challenging fight. I kinda like him how he is now. Fixed a critical error with Tonberries and buffed most magick all around. I'm doing some testing and I'm liking how the damage is increased now, but we'll see how that goes late-game. Discovered a fun bug wherein if you successfully break a type of item that the enemy doesn't have equipped (like using Shellbust to destroy enemy armor, if they're not wearing body armor) the break effect will land, but instead of destroying armor, it'll display a teddy bear sprite and say that was broken. I'm sure it's because that's the first sprite it reads, but I think it's hilarious and it's staying.

Also, this happened: Used Possess on an Oracle. Both the Oracle and the target have Reflect. Had Oracle cast Stop on the target. The target Reflects Stop back onto the Oracle. The target's Counter Magick goes off, making it cast Stop on the Oracle... which Reflects onto the target and Stops the target. Yay for Reflect/Counter Magick fun.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Leynerishkigal on January 17, 2016, 05:17:57 am
It's true that as most battle are against "humanoid" character, possess is a must have ability be it quickening a ally turn or backstabing a foe with its own allies.

Concerning the Death/Doom combo something funny came to my mind. What would happen if you give death two properties, one being what you want (X) and the second being Doom ?
Wouldn't that create a loop that auto-cast X every 3 round ?

This way wouldn't it be possible to create a burning or bleeding status ? or even recreate the mighty auto-potion ?

Also concerning Aero/Gust, well gust can only be use on grassy field so even if gust is free it can't be use on barren or artificial soil. Plus Aero got an AoE that Gust didn't got. I think the way you made it is quite balanced.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 19, 2016, 12:20:44 am
I could do a lot of really cool things with Doom, but that would mean changing a lot of existing stuff around, which isn't worth it for a gimmick, IMO. Anyhow, I just finished the first fight with Ewen and a bunch of other missions. I changed monster elemental affinities around a bit, and Undead are quite a bit more tanky now, meaning that Necromancers are by proxy more useful. In general, I haven't Game Over'd yet, but battles have the potential to go badly quite quickly if you're not careful. I've also discovered a few minor bugs and those are being fixed as well.

EDIT: Chocobo Knights have been revamped and are more akin to Onion Knights in nature. Each type of Chocobo has a preferred stat and stat growth.

Yellow Chocobo: HP
Green Chocobo: MP
Brown Chocobo: DEF
White Chocobo: RES
Red Chocobo: ATK
Black Chocobo: MAG

By choosing your Chocobo mount wisely, your Chocobo Knight's growths can be optimized to your liking.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 19, 2016, 05:47:08 am
Can the chocobos skill be learnt from chocobo to chocobo? As in if i learn choco recharge or choco barrier and then switched to a red chocobo for the attack growth, can i use the choco barrier or choco recharge? It would be cool to implement if not XD
Maybe i'm the only one over thinking this XD
Great work, and thanks for this awesome mod XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Madeen on January 19, 2016, 03:36:26 pm
Yeah overall in vanilla I didnt really use chocobos... I mean, you have to catch one everytime and stuff.
Would be nice if you could actually store them and choose the one you want for this or that battle, but it seems impossible? :P

Beside, choco knight cant use a secondary skillset, that's also a turn off for me.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 20, 2016, 02:34:08 am
Chocobos stay with you until you dissmount or die. Well switching chocobos before fights is irrelevant if one could learn the chocobos skills. Just get the black for flying, once we learn all the skills and have an op job that does everyting XD
Also not being able to use a second action slots is not that bad since chocobo knights can heal both hp and mp, removes debuffs, gives protect and shell and have a meteor attack. It does everyting except for a savoteur skill. To me they would be op If, and only if, they could learn all the skills from every chocobo XD
Wish they would do more damage though XD

On another note, how about making a new job that revolves around that doom-link combo mechanich or a move that gives you a count down for a meteor to fall on their heads. Powerfull magicks that requires one to wait for them to apear. XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Madeen on January 20, 2016, 05:09:39 pm
Quote from: Boring Steven on January 20, 2016, 02:34:08 am
Chocobos stay with you until you dissmount or die. Well switching chocobos before fights is irrelevant if one could learn the chocobos skills. Just get the black for flying, once we learn all the skills and have an op job that does everyting XD
Also not being able to use a second action slots is not that bad since chocobo knights can heal both hp and mp, removes debuffs, gives protect and shell and have a meteor attack. It does everyting except for a savoteur skill. To me they would be op If, and only if, they could learn all the skills from every chocobo XD
Wish they would do more damage though XD

On another note, how about making a new job that revolves around that doom-link combo mechanich or a move that gives you a count down for a meteor to fall on their heads. Powerfull magicks that requires one to wait for them to apear. XD


That's true, but to me fun is about choices and diversity.. I dont care if a class can do everything on its own, I rather have a second skillset for more choice/diversity.
A character with only one skillset is plain boring to me, I'd never use it.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 20, 2016, 09:51:27 pm
Well, when you put it that way, it is a boring job. But a chocobo using cool moves and such, other than chocobo skills might be hard (sprite reasons and such. I could be wrong on that) maybe magics or something that uses chocobos nomal animations. Aparently they desing it to show people how a chocobos interact with everything (like an animal show XD). A black mage chocobo that heals with it chocobo skills might be more interesting for sure XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 21, 2016, 12:34:02 am
@Boring: Welcome to FFH! I'm glad you're enjoying the mod! The update will be quite a bit more polished and even more fun! In regards to a job that uses a turn to cast spells, that would be the new Daemon job, which you can read about earlier in the topic. The use Ultima Magicks and can claw things to death.

I've been continuing my playthrough, and I have to say. Engineer and Oracle are becoming my new favorite jobs. Moogle lasers, ftw.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 21, 2016, 04:53:03 am
Really nice XD

I second that, on the lasers rule topic XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 25, 2016, 08:49:05 pm
Just a heads up, looking to release a new update by the end of the month regardless of whether or not I finish my test run. The update will have the new jobs released since the old one and will also have level scaling based on the average level of the entire party, except of the enemy is of a higher level, thanks to RFH's wonderful level scaling hack.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 26, 2016, 11:08:37 am
Really nice to hear XD

Im so hyped for the Hero job, been a fan of the original final fantasy but were does the dragon quest hero part of the job is. I know the rest of his abilities are from the sentinel job of ff13 XD

Also i tried to beat the mission of the lamias and they are hellish on hard, able to charm, slow, delay, addle, silence, poison and doom and they hit super hard with that wind attack that has a summon like aoe XD

Also when my bangaa got doomed but instead of dying at the 3rd turn, he got ready and standed like he is ready for a beating XD

I also tried to use tame on them, but i couldn't target them. Thorn is awesome. I have tried for about a week XD

The fairys are awesome and anoying at the same time with that holy attack on all that shares her level including themselfs so they heal XD

P.S.
I was wondered maybe give a little damage to the soldier/warrior skills or something. Also why is the warrior 4 moves and the soldier 3 moves they are equals in my book XD (cant wait for gauge)
I know you give 3 moves for the archers and such so that they would be on the back, but soldiers need to be on the front. My bangaa is taking the glory instead of my main XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 26, 2016, 02:10:56 pm
Basically, the Moogle Hero job is based on a number of retro RPG heroes that wielded both sword and magick, and I was just reminded of DQ1's hero who could use both.

Lamias have been slightly nerfed for the upcoming update. Further, Tame has also been fixed. A good way of dealing with Lamias is Taming them and having them Addle themselves. Saves a LOT of trouble, so Tame being fixed will be a big deal.

Thank you for reminding me about Level ? Holy's quirk. I'm going to have to change that so when the levels scale, that spell won't nuke everything. I'll figure out what else to make it. Maybe Level 3 Holy or something.

Soldiers are already getting a Move buff for the next update, so don't worry too much about that. As for Soldier's Break skills not dealing damage, it's because the Ravager's Crush skills do damage and lower stats, so I didn't want the jobs to be the same. I'm thinking of how to better buff the Break skills though.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 26, 2016, 06:24:14 pm
Really nice to hear XD
fair enough abot soldier/warrior skill not doing damage i was thinking of 0.5x damage. Didn't know of the ravager, sorry on my part XD
Also hows the animist rework?
You mention the eating a critical monster to fully heal himself, I was thinking of the antlion that eats another antlion to increase all of its stats, what do you think would it be to broken on the players hands XD
Thanks again for everything and keep up the excellent work that is modding A2 (my favorite FFT game of all time XD)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 26, 2016, 06:30:57 pm
Actually, I got my wires crossed. Ravager is Vartan now, which means their Crush skills are gone. This means I'll be making the Break skills inflict damage. Hopefully they'll find more use that way.

Animist rework is on hold for a bit. I have yet to fully determine what I want to do with them.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Boring Steven on January 26, 2016, 06:41:59 pm
Sad days for animist around the world XD
No worries though, take your time
Now to soldiers, i had a dream of Luso throwing a stone as a prank and got me thinking of the soldier of the original FFT that had a move wich throws stones at enemies XD
Thanks for the fast reply, have a nice day
P.S.
On another note how about just doing a normal holy magick attack with aoe on the Sprites so they can target themself.
P.S.S.
On the Animist topic i have some ideas on how it can be a little better than vainilla. The skill of eating critical monster to restore HP and increase Stats, maybe some attacks revolving arround the prey and predator relationship. Like predator skills for offense and prey skills for deffense. He would be more animalistic. For the eating ability it can be like the antlion skill that eats a diferent antlion to increase stats, but instead an antlion on any critical monster, and with some healing too. What are your thoughs on this wierd idea of an animist XD
P.S.S.S.
Also the green mage is been awesome so far, protect on the whole party is sweet, is the protect aoe suppose to be a summon aoe? If so why not rename it to protectga or something
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.5- Last Updated: 12/25/15
Post by: Eternal on January 31, 2016, 07:32:40 pm
As promised, today I present an update for FFTA2 GG, bring it up to 0.6! You'll definitely want to update using a clean ROM, but your save will still work between versions. The update features the following:

-The introduction of the Corsair, Moogle Hero, and Kunoichi jobs.

-Multiple bug fixes: Kotetsu now deals damage properly, Oust and Parley have fixed animations, etc. Some minor bugs remain, such as Storm's AP cost, as well as Drill Shot and Diaga's AP costs.

-Level scaling; enemies will scale to the party's average level, but if the enemy's level would normally be higher than the party's average, it'll use the higher level for the enemy.

-Multiple balance changes, many of the larger ones detailed below.

-Many textual references to old job names that no longer exist have been fixed. Unfortunately, I still can't edit the job names in the item/ability menus.


Some of the larger balance changes are as follows:

-Scholar buffs now have AoE, meaning they're far more useful. Teleport and Vigilance have been removed for Bravery and Faith, which boost ATK and MAG, respectively. Scholars are the go-to job for buffing your party.

-Magick in general has been strengthened and now proves useful even late-game. I made this change mid-game, however, so if people find that it needs to be nerfed early-game, I'll see what can be done.

-Many broken Reaction and Passive Abilities have been removed from player use (such as Blood Price and Strikeback) and replaced with new ones that were formerly enemy only. This means that the player now has access to things such as Smasher, Resistance Up, and Archmage, just to name a few.

-Many monsters have new elemental affinities. Monsters such as Undead are far more resilient and require far more specialized units to take them on. Necromancers are quite useful. Dragons will likely be being buffed in the next update.

-Flan and Adamantoises have vastly improved DEF. Use magick!

-The Soldier's Break skills now deal damage and have a chance to inflict their respective debuff.

-All Ultima and Gigaflare have been nerfed.

-Chocobo Knights now have the best stat growth in the game, depending on what Chocobo is being mounted. The growth is as follows:

Yellow Chocobo: HP
Green Chocobo: MP
Brown Chocobo: DEF
White Chocobo: RES
Red Chocobo: ATK
Black Chocobo: MAG


Using Chocobo Knights effectively as you level is key to grooming a proper Moogle warrior, kupo!

-Scions have been completely revamped. Scions were formerly little different from Illusionist skills, and they weren't particularly interesting. Since Scions can only be used once per fight, I decided to make them more akin to Limit Breaks, wherein they have very potent effects, but should be used tactically for best results. Think of them as one-time support units that can be used to sway the battle into one's favor. Their new effects are as follows (text changes haven't been made yet on those, as I'm waiting to see if they're too broken like this or not):

Belias: Inflicts Oil on all enemies with perfect accuracy.
Mateus: Immobilizes all enemies for a single turn with perfect accuracy.
Adrammelech: Bestows Spellbound on all allies, making any buffs and debuffs cast by allies remain for a longer duration.
Cuchulainn: Inflicts Poison on all enemies with perfect accuracy.
Zalera: Inflicts Resilience Down on all enemies with perfect accuracy, allowing the party's debuffs to become more accurate.
Famfrit: Dispels buffs from all enemies and removes debuffs from all allies.
Hashmal: Bestows Focus on all allies, allowing their next physical assault to deal heavy damage.
Chaos: Quickens all allies, allowing them to act immediately.
Zeromus: Delays all foes, forcing their CT to reset.
Exodus: Deals 25% damage to all enemies based on their Max HP to both HP and MP with perfect accuracy; works on boss units.
Shemhazai: Fully restores the party's MP.
Ultima: Fully restores the party's HP.
Zodiark: Deals Dark damage to all enemies with perfect accuracy.


There are many other small changes, but these are the biggest. I hope everyone enjoys the update! Monster skill descriptions are still unchanged, as I'm still trying to figure out what to do with them. As always, any feedback/bug reports are welcome. Attached to this post and the first post are the updated versions!

@Boring Steven: Protectga would imply then that there's a Protect and Protectra, which there aren't. Therefore, Protect will be staying as-is. :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.6- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Boring Steven on January 31, 2016, 07:54:04 pm
Thanks a ton XD
Been lloking foward to it XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.61- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on January 31, 2016, 08:09:04 pm
Sorry for the inconvenience, but if you downloaded 0.6 or 0.61, please download 0.62, which is attached below. The Scholar changes didn't take in the previous version, but this fixes that. Thanks!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Boring Steven on January 31, 2016, 08:48:35 pm
no worries man
I played the 6.0 but the lamias are still impossible on hard XD

Im starting on normal a brand new game XD
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on January 31, 2016, 08:49:41 pm
Lamias are initially tough, but using things like Tame helps a lot. Honestly, I like how Hard Mode is playing out. I feel like Normal Mode will be really easy.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Bonesy on February 02, 2016, 12:36:00 pm
Once this develops more I'll play it lol, too bad I generally don't play games on Hard ayyyy
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Gomen on February 04, 2016, 05:45:12 pm
Nerf´s everywhere :v

pls down damage or the move on the wolfs on the first lvls is very dificult and the probability states alteraded is very high in skills the wolfs
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 07, 2016, 11:05:40 pm
The testing continues. I discovered a bug wherein Bravery- the new Scholar spell- summons Exodus to drop a meteor on your allies' heads to raise their ATK. As awesome as that is, that'll be fixed for the next update. Also, I discovered that new party members will only join up to level 50, which really kills the party average level for difficulty. I'm at Illua II (The Ritual) now, and even 30 levels beneath me, she can completely solo my party and whittle them to nothing. It's both kickass and awful at the same time.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: IcyGlare on February 08, 2016, 05:41:14 am
New party members only joining at 50...even when setting their Max Level in the Recruits sheet past 50? That's strange.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 08, 2016, 09:50:20 pm
I actually totally forgot that recruit levels were capped and that the level addresses were in that spreadsheet until you mentioned it, so thanks! That's been fixed for the next update.

EDIT: I wonder if level could be uncapped to 255...

EDIT 2: Level is hard capped at 99. Sadness.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on February 09, 2016, 09:32:12 pm
Going to slowly start in on this new version.

General question for those on the thread: in a case like this, where you want to play around with all the classes, do you prefer to go wide (e.g. full clan roster, every character specializes in ~2 jobs) or deep (fewer characters, everyone has ~4)?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 09, 2016, 09:42:26 pm
I would say that it depends on what you're looking for. Due to the way level scaling works, it works based on your ENTIRE party's levels, so keep that in mind. I, personally, just usually stick to my starting units + story recruits.

FYI: new recruits will scale with level properly in the next update, which will likely be released after the craziness of Valentine's Day next week. In Vanilla, generic job recruits would only scale in level and max out at 30. Now the max is 99. Likewise, all new recruits can now level scale between 1-99 properly in the next update.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 10, 2016, 01:21:53 am
Hey! Been playing a bunch of your mod, and so far, it's fantastic.  I read through all the posts, but the job and skill descriptions still seem to be out of date (unless I missed something).  Any chance you could post an updated list with growths/skills?

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on February 10, 2016, 01:44:29 am
@eternal: will 0.62 saves be compatible with the upcoming release?

I usually end up with two Moogles, Bangaa and Nu Mou a piece, three Viera, one each of Gria and Seeq, and lots of Humes, all including story recruits (I guess make that 3 Moogles with Monty, but he comes quite late). It allows me to get some breadth.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 10, 2016, 01:47:06 am
Another question - is it possible to enable story units to be dispatched? Or does that cause too many issues with story quests? Perhaps not being able to dispatch while a story quest is active/not being able to accept a story quest while dispatched?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 10, 2016, 08:07:30 pm
Welcome to FFH, Wrongstuff! What skill descriptions are still wrong? Most of them should be accurate, minus the monster and special unit skills. Sadly, I have no idea how to make story units dispatchable, and it probably couldn't be done without breaking the game. :(

Chocolatemoose: Saves will be compatible with each update. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 10, 2016, 10:12:41 pm
Well in particular, on the item Vajra, shock for raptor is unable to be learned (there may have been another 1 or 2 that I saw but this is the one I wrote down when I registered for the forum :) ).

Also, since I've been obliterating mobs since my last post with this -> have a Nou Mou with Ultima magic, turbo MP and Absorb MP, have speedy Viera Occultist's possess him every turn to focus / cast All Ultima wins battles in 1-2 turns, it's a little absurd.  I'm not sure if possess maybe shouldn't work on your own units? But god damn is it effective.

Can you edit the help text on the job descriptions in game? If so, having the growth's listed there might be a cool thing too.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 11, 2016, 07:23:32 pm
Hmm, thanks for bringing that up. I wasn't aware of the issue with Vajra, but I'll look into it. Unfortunately, there's just not enough room to add the stat growth to each job description, but I love that idea!

As far as All Ultima is concerned, that skill will probably be flat out removed sometime in the near future and replaced, I'm not sure with what yet though. Same with Gigaflare.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Madeen on February 11, 2016, 08:44:51 pm
Quote from: chocolatemoose on February 10, 2016, 01:44:29 am

I usually end up with two Moogles, Bangaa and Nu Mou a piece, three Viera, one each of Gria and Seeq, and lots of Humes, all including story recruits (I guess make that 3 Moogles with Monty, but he comes quite late). It allows me to get some breadth.


Same as me minus a banga and a viera for me, at least in vanilla :P

Now in this mod, I might get more... depending on number of "cool" jobs :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 11, 2016, 10:53:03 pm
Quote from: Eternal on February 11, 2016, 07:23:32 pm
Hmm, thanks for bringing that up. I wasn't aware of the issue with Vajra, but I'll look into it. Unfortunately, there's just not enough room to add the stat growth to each job description, but I love that idea!

As far as All Ultima is concerned, that skill will probably be flat out removed sometime in the near future and replaced, I'm not sure with what yet though. Same with Gigaflare.


No problem, thanks for putting out this awesome mod.  I'm at like, 230/400 quests
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 11, 2016, 11:00:18 pm
Do you have any other feedback, Wrong? I'd love to hear what some of your favorite/least favorite new things are about the mod so I can work on those.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 12, 2016, 02:30:57 am
Sure, I've got a bunch! Lemme type up my comments tomorrow :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Madeen on February 12, 2016, 08:28:20 am
400 quests?  Wasnt that 300?  Or I'm mixing up with FFTA...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 12, 2016, 04:48:26 pm
First of all, thanks for this great mod.  I've written some notes/comments about the game below.  Please keep in mind that these are not necessarily criticisms, just observations that I've made, and I realize that some of the issues are just part of the base game/genre that I see a lot of in tactical RPG's, and not your contributions.  In fact, I feel that most of the stuff you've added is fantastic.

General notes:
-I haven't used an item even once.
-Debuff effects don't seem worth it.  The enemies you'd WANT to use them on are immune, and using them on chaff just feels ineffecient.  I think FFXII is maybe the only game I've ever played where I felt like status effects were worth using.  I think that status effects should either be a very high chance of hitting (otherwise it feels like you wasted your turn), or, like you did with Arts of War, as an additional effect to the attack.
-A lot of classes simply feel like stepping stones to another class (eg. Thief/Archer, Fencer).  I realize these are just the base classes, but perhaps there is something to be said to giving them some sort of additional bonus for actually being that class.  For example (and these are bad and maybe not even codable, but you get the idea), maybe Archers get an additional range on their attack, and maybe Monks would do more damage when they counter.
- Some of these classes seem linked (I.e. Archer + hunter/sniper).  It'd be nice if the hunter/sniper skill bases included the archery skills in them, similar to red magic / seer magic having black + white magic skills in them.
- I found the game particulary difficult in the early levels (especially the one clan trial with the Fairies) because they could wipeout/stone my team before I even moved.  This is before you get enough equipment to handle things appropriately.  Once you hit the mid/late game, I found that even though the enemies were my level or higher, the game actually got SIGNIFICANTLY easier.  And this is without abusing All Ultima/Possess.
-Mp Damaging skills (outside of Magick Hammer) - barely did MP damage at all compared to the enemies Max MP, and so many skills in the game are free anyways.  Have you ever played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time? They had a cool mechanic where you could MP kill an enemy by reducing MP to zero.  I have no idea if this is codeable/desired.
-It would be really cool to be able to use certain skills with other weapons, to give those classes more playability.  For example, Archer(or hunter)/Paladin, and being able to holy strike at a distance with a bow.
-Moves with built in-movement/knockback for the user might also be an interesting idea to explore.  Example, maybe Rush hits all enemies in a line and lands the user at the last tile (tile must be unoccupied).  Melee classes with 3 move felt awkward because of their lack of mobility, whereas it didn't affect ranged users as much.
-The auction house: I can definitely see this trivializing a lot of the game by having access to uber weapons early. 

====================================================================
Humes: Overall, they felt very flexible (as they are supposed to)

Soldier - Good class for the early game, but once I got some more advanced classes, I never wants arts of war
White Mage - TurboMP is so strong, it makes thunder hit for ~300 around lvl 50 or so, almost invalidating many melee/attack based units
Thief - stepping stone to Ninja/Dual Wield
Black Mage - I really liked this class, the different effects in the black magic were really nice, other than just having different elements (fire having more AOE, thunder having more range, and blizzard not being able to hit your own allies I'll admit was weird)
Archer - felt very weak, I almost never wanted to use the status effects that either A)don't deal at least your attack damage and B)have a lower percentage chance to hit.  (See my comments above about status effects)
Paladin - Nurse's Regen never goes away, and it doesn't cure status ailments as it says in the description.  Still a good skill I used alot.  Sanctify was good for the couple of undead battles there are.  Defend/Cover I rarely used, I'd rather just nurse and keep on trucking.  What is the damage scaling on Saint Cross? I felt it was lower than basic attack but I could be wrong.
Fighter - Grapple is cool.  Aurablast is the best skill in this job, tho it did feel awkward that you'd hit yourself with it.
Hunter - I haven't played this class
Parivir/Samurai - I haven't used this class much, but, similar to the ninja, I felt that their skills were underpowered.  I would rather just autoattack most of the time.
Blue Mage - It's blue magic!  Whitewind is useful. I guess also Magick Hammer, but there are few fights where I wanted this as opposed to just doing damage.
Necromancer - What a frickin baller class.  Undead? Now I have a statue garden.  However, I felt that outside of battles with undead, they weren't really worth it.
Seer - Felt like the Hume Version of the Red Mage, except with better magic available.
Ninja - This class has dual wield! woohoo! That being said, the ninjutsu skills felt extremely underpowered.

====================================================================
Moogles: Kupo! Hurdy is the friggin nuts with Soul Etude (why yes, please repeatedly quicken my whole team).
Animist - There weren't many skills available to this class in the early game other than 100%wool, and I never went back to it.
Thief - again, very rarely did I want to steal.  I seem to remember some game where the thief could permanently steal stats, so by using a thief all game you could have a very powerful unit.  Again, may not be codeable.
Black Mage - Felt like moogles didn't have enough of the support skills to make me want a mage here.
Moogle Hero - Heal was kinda cool, and the AOE holy.  That being said, these are magic skills in what felt like an attack power based class, so they never felt like they were worth using over an actual mage. Flexible unit tho.
Flintlock/Fusilier - Not a great stat growth.  Felt similar to hume archers.
Corsair - I haven't used this class
Oracle - I felt like the single target buff's weren't worth the loss in damage of just attacking
Time Mage - Another buff/debuff class.  Being single target, and not having a source of damage in it's skill set felt undesirable.  I think some FF games have time mages with Meteor in their skill set?
Chocobo Knight - Didn't use
Engineer - I liked this class more than the Flintlock, again, I felt like this was an upgrade over the other gun based class, and the growths for it made me feel as though I was better off using other classes/units.

======================================================================
Viera - Great race, lots of options for the way to take a party member
Fencer - generic melee class for Viera, I never wanted to really use any fencing skills except maybe the multi-hit one you get fairly early one (can't recall the name).  Used as a stepping stone class
White Mage - Nothing special to say here
Archer - Same issue as hume Archers
Kunoichi - Great speed, but I rarely found myself wanting to use the abilities
Summoner - Haven't used this class yet
Sniper - Same thing as Archer I've said before
Occultist - Absolutely love this class.  I'm pretty sure Possess is the best skill in the game, since you can possess your most powerful, although maybe not speedy unit, and have them essentially do multiple actions.  Also, Possessing Hurdy to spam cast Soul Etude means enemies are lucky if they ever get a turn.  I felt it was a little awkward having a MPOW based class that equips similar to a fencer.  I did like that the abilities used HP instead of MP (nice touch).  I thought it was kind of cool that I could drop my own HP, then use skills that deal damage based on the amount of HP missing (although these attacks have really low accuracy that I rarely wanted to use them).  It would be really neat to find a way of incorporating MP usage to regain HP in this class, either through this job's skills or another (and don't say just use white magic -> cure :)
Red Mage - I haven't used this class much, but I'm looking forward to having dualcast + Occultist abilities / summoner.
Green Mage - I think I've been clear about my opinions on debuffs :)
Spellblade - I haven't used this class yet

=====================================================================
Bangaa - In my opinion, the worst race for the sheer fact they are the most average race - they simply aren't great at anything.Little AOE, average speef, and 3 movement on most of these jobs means that they generally won't contribute that much to combat.  Early game I was stuck with them, but once I acquired a Gria, they were completely outclassed.  That being said, this could also be a playstyle choice, and as such I never really gave cannoneer/trickster a chance.  When I get more towards the endgame I will train one up and report with some feedback.
Warrior - Nothing special
Monk - As a I mentioned above, maybe having a higher % return on the counter when you are this class?
Dragoon - I actually like the dragoon class, primarily to the fact that spears hit 2 tiles (Also, the breath abilities can be pretty useful.  I'd like to see the different breaths have different effects similar the the black magic spells).  I never used jump due to it's super low accuracy.
Defender/Myrmidon - It would be really cool if there was a taunt-like ability that would make units within range target this unit until it's next turn, so it could function as a tank.
Bishop - Didn't use much, used one Humes/NoMou/Viera as spellcasters instead
Gladiator - I didn't use this class much
Templar - Upgraded Dragoon as I saw it (The sprite at least, dat blue robe). Lifebreak would be much more useful if the accuracy was higher (and maybe damaged the user as well? so being at a super low life may kill you, but also make the skill stronger? I don't know, just brainstorming here)
Cannoneer - I didn't use this class
Trickster - I didn't use this class

===================================================================
White Mage - nothing special
Black Mage - same comments as before
Beastmaster/Druid - Loved this class.  I was never able to figure out how to cast squelch, as it was always grayed out for me.  However, the ability to tame/charm, along with the free (and unique feeling spells - I love thorns).  I haven't tested whether or not turboMP boots the power of these spells yet, but it's on my to-do list
Time Mage - Same comments as the moogle, not great, not your fault :)
Necromancer - Same comments as Hume
Sage - Didn't use
Alchemist - Didn't use
Daemon - busted as hell with the possess method I mentioned before, you just spam ultima and things don't live very long
Scholar - I'm not a buff-player (and also Hurdy is the best buffer in the game I think, at least so far that I've encountered.  At the time of writing, my average party level is in the 70's, I'm at ~250 quests completed, and I'm on the 2nd to last story mission)

===================================================================
Seeq - I want to use this class more, I haven't gotten much use in with them yet.
Ranger - Traps seem underpowered, especially if enemies don't step on them :(
Berserker - Better than Bangaa-based claw classes, if not for their speed
Lanista/Reaver - I liked the Dark-knight feel to these, although I thought it odd that these skills didn't cost HP and the occultist's did
Viking - Felt magic based, but I'd rather use a race that had more spell variety available if I was going to use a mage.

==================================================================
Gria - Might be my favorite race, for the sheer fact they have built in flying movement.  I could be wrong but monkey grip didn't do much for this race since they can't dual-wield or equip shields (unless I missed something)
Raptor - My best unit is a Raptor/Ravager.  I don't really use the skills in this job that much, but chose it because it had the highest base move + could equip tournesol.
Hunter - I havent used this class much, it's on the to-do list
Ravager - This might be my favorite job in the game. Tailwind/updraft were the few buffs I used throughout the game other than Hurdy.  Also, Zephyr was a really sweet move, since you got to AOE attack on top of the wind spell.  The only complaint I had about this class was that all the skills were wind based, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Geomancer - Haven't used this class yet, I need to level my spare gria up first :D
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 13, 2016, 12:50:10 pm
Thanks for your detailed reply! I'll try and address each point individually.

General Notes:
-Items (namely HP/MP healing items) are being buffed. I'm considering making them heal by a percentage, so that they're more useful end-game. That being said, I don't really want Item to be an end-all/be-all skillset. That's kinda what happened in FFT, and I don't want that to happen in A2 as well.

-Debuffs are tricky. Anyone who plays any of my patches agree that I have a sort of fetish for buffing/debuffing. The challenge with debuffs is that enemies have a flat resistance to debuffs. This means, for example, that I can't make things like Frog less accurate than things like Poison. The chance of any debuff landing is (100 - Enemy Resilience), which is a hidden stat that varies from job to job. Things like Blackout, Arm Shot, and Leg Shot will probably end up dealing damage in the near future though. Ultimately, I really want buffs and debuffs to be more useful, but it's tricky since I can't edit the individual hit rate of each particular debuff. (Also, play FFXIII- that game will make you really appreciate buffs and debuffs!)

-Archers are in line for a buff. I'm thinking of making them more AoE focused, whereas the Hunter would be more about precision. Snipers have a new skill called Arrow Rain, and I may make something similar for Archers. Maybe something like Cover Fire. IMO, Monks are great, but they just aren't very flashy. Things like Chakra and Revive can come in real handy, as does Air Render.

-Early game madness is how Hard Mode in general is, honestly. I'm doing my best to make sure end-game is just as tough (or at least ensure everything is evened out), but even with the level scaling hack, I need to be able to edit which abilities enemies have to make it tougher, which is doable at the moment, but it's incredibly tedious. I'm hoping to be able to tackle that in the near future.

-Death by 0 MP isn't really viable in A2. That, and even if it were, I think it would just really make people not want to risk using mages more than they're already hated. Rasp and Soul Sphere will likely be buffed in the very near future; possibly to deal percentile damage, just like Magick Hammer now deals.

-Changing things like Holy Blade to Holy Strike could be interesting. I'll go through the list of abilities and see what's currently Weapon Range.

-Knockback is a challenge. I want it to be useful because it's a fun gimmick, but unlike in FFT, there are so few maps with height differences that Knockback is pretty useless. And knocking a unit back a single tile ultimately doesn't change much. Archers would probably be getting a ranged Knockback skill though with their buff.

-Auctionhouses are being flat-out nerfed in the near future, it's just a matter of finding an efficient way of doing it and still making it useful to participate in Auctions.


HUMES:

-Soldiers are really only meant to be a beginning-game job, but their Art of War skills are a little more useful even endgame now because their Breaks deal damage, and First Aid is free, more potent, and can clear some debuffs. They sync really well with Archers/Hunters. I wanted to give Soldiers equipment breaking skills, but I lack the room.

-Turbo MP is being removed in the next update; just trying to figure out what to replace it with. I'm leaning towards Illude, a formerly enemy-only ability that raises the user's Evasion passively.

-As far as Thieves are concerned, you should really try them now. They can steal better loot earlier, can drain HP and MP, and can steal weaponry and armor now. They're a lot more fun, especially when you use the Brigand's Gloves with them!

-I'm not happy with Blizzard's gimmick at the moment, and it seems to see the least use. I'm thinking of making it more powerful but single target or something. I'm not sure yet.

-Archers are being buffed, so don't worry too much about them!

-I thought I changed Nurse's description ages ago, but I'll check it out. Regen (and Poison) never wear off, and are absolutely amazing to use. In fact, I'd argue that they're almost gamebreaking. First Aid, Nurse, and Chakra are all meant to be similar, but complement each other and be different.

-Aurablast has 2 Range and 1 AoE, meaning it doesn't have to hit the user, but you have to be careful with how you position yourself and how you use it. It's meant to be a little more difficult to use, but it's still very potent.

-I'm really dissatisfied with Samurai at the moment. They're definitely going to see a change in the near future, and probably a totally new gimmick altogether.

-Blue Mage is definitely useful, and I want to nerf White Wind, but it seems like it'd be awful to take away its gimmick, so it'll stay for now, albeit with an increased MP cost, perhaps. Blue Mages rock because they're versatile, but they can't do anything particularly amazingly.

-Necromancer is definitely a niche class, and one that is being constantly reworked. Seal Evil, in particular, is tough to balance. I don't want to make the hit rate less on it, but at present it's ridiculously good. Brainrot and Crucify are going to be reworked (since Crucify is actually bugged at the moment for whatever reason).

-Ninja are actually pretty damn amazing at the moment. I'm not sure if you've played FFT, but FFTA2 GG Ninja are a lot like FFT Geomancers but with Dual Wield. Minimal damage, but AoE (and almost free) debuffs to go around. Katon and Mokuton in particular are really good and can easily cripple enemies. Using them for their debuffs is the best way to use Ninjtusu, IMO.


MOOGLES:

-Soul Etude is being nerfed, you needn't worry about that either! :D

-Animist is in line to be reworked, but I haven't figured out the specifics yet, and I haven't come up with an idea that I like just yet. Needless to say, it will be changed in the near future though.

-Moogle Heroes are definitely meant to feel flexible. I designed them to be part tank, part melee, part mage, and part healer. My Moogle Hero was definitely an MVP in quite a few fights.

-Fusiliers are getting a buff with their equipment breaking skill accuracy. So, basically, they'll be as accurate as a Myrmidon's breaking skills, but they won't inflict damage, however being used with a long-range weapon means they'll get more range out of those skills. MP costs will likely be applied to those skills.

-Orators need to be revised in the near future. I designed them as one of the first new jobs, before I created things like Scholar, so they've fallen by the wayside a bit. They'll be sufficiently buffed in the near future though.

-Time Mage is losing Undo and Extend and gaining Demi and Comet to give them a few damaging skills.

-Engineer works well as a secondary skillset, and their skills are very potent. I used Moogle Hero with Engineer secondary for a good part of the game and it works really well.


VIERA:

-Fencers are basically melee with flair, which is why their skills are as they are. As enemies become more balanced once I edit their abilities, their skills should find more use.

-Kunoichi are a very high-class job that requires the user to both A) Know how growths work and aim for as much HP as possible and B) Be willing to risk keeping their HP low to get the most use out of their skills. Basically, it's a very high-risk, high-reward job that isn't for everyone's playstyle, including my own. That said, I know of at least a few people who enjoy playing as Kunoichis.

-Occultists are definitely among my favorite new job. Possess is pretty damn broken, but mostly just because other facets of the game are broken. Considering Viera have a wide array of effective skills, sacrificing their turn for another unit to act is a pretty big deal. As far as healing is concerned, using Kirin on your party (Summoner) before using Blood Magick pretty much makes those spells free. If anything, I'll be greatly increasing their HP costs in the near future.

-Dualcast now only works with Red Magick abilities. It's still really good though, and I found myself using it often. Dualcast Cure in particular is really good.


BANGAA:

-Bangaa are relatively buffed in the next update. Monk and Templar got a Move boost. I don't use Cannoneer much, but I love Trickster. Their Speed is ridiculously good, and they can attack from 8 tiles away with Cards. Their debuffing skills are also pretty fun.

-Myrmidon probably won't ever get a Taunt ability. If anything, Paladins would. I've considered making a skill that Covers all allies or inflicts Berserk and Immobilize on adjacent units for Paladins, but I haven't decided on any of that yet.

-Lifebreak is wonderful late-game when HP is ridiculously high. That said, you need to watch what you use it on since it's Dark Elemental and most bosses are immune to it.


NU MOU:

-Nu Mou can enter Water tiles now, and that's how Squelch, Aqua, Torrent, and Flood are used. They're very potent skills! For the record, Turbo MP works on -any- skill that costs MP, to my knowledge, so it should work with Druid skills as well. Well, until I take away Turbo MP, anyhow.

-Daemons are being reworked slightly to be more balanced. They're going to lose All Ultima for sure.

-I'd argue that after I buffed Scholars in the latest update that they're downright amazing. Here's how they work: spells like Protect bestow the Protect status, which wears off after 3 turns. Scholars, however, can use Paling which bestows both Protect and Defense Up statuses. Protect will wear off after 3 turns, but Defense Up will not. Scholars can also access the Spellbound Passive Ability which makes any buff or debuff they use last longer. Using Scholars effectively have really saved me in some late-game fights, and make you almost invincible, especially with Regen.


SEEQ:

-Using Rangers effectively is all about knowing how the AI works. In FFTA2, the AI will always try to go for a back attack when it can. Therefore, placing traps behind your units will make the AI walk into them fairly often, not only causing the trap to trigger, but ending the target's turn. That, and Rangers have Mirror Item, but that may go to Alchemists in the near future.

-Reaver skills DO consume HP when noted in the tooltips, but the animation doesn't display the damage being dealt to the Reaver.

-Vikings are a lot like Moogle Hero. They're versatile units that can attack at just about any range. They're basically a magick option for Seeqs.


GRIA:

-Vartan is definitely an amazing job, and several enemies are weak to Wind. Having one around never hurts!

-Geomancer is being redone in the near future, since it's basically a less interesting Druid at this point. Thinking of making it a magickal version of Dragoons.

Thanks for the insight! Let me know how the rest of the game goes!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 13, 2016, 03:27:51 pm
Thanks for the response.  I think you've got a really good vision for the mod and I'm excited to see what you do with it.  A couple of questions: can you make seeq/gria available earlier? Also, when can we expect another patch update? :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 13, 2016, 07:55:24 pm
Can I say the changes so far are great!  Just wanted to point out some things

I noticed that soldier abilities don't take into consideration facing as of now. 

Also i found that posses only allows certain abilities to be used, note that the druid abilities cannot be used when possessed.  If you can figure that out it might make things that are broken like priming a nou mu with possession for ultima shenanigans etc.

Found the sniper class kinda weak overall with no real damage abilities and the fact that it shares the break abilities with the fusilier but at less range doesn't help much.

Corsair is kinda fun but i find that I'm using coin toss almost exclusively as the damage is really great, as long as RNG gods are in your favour. pretty fun class

druid is great but I would suggest a nerf to thorns just because its pretty much always available and is good, or make gust available on natural terrain and thorns on grass (switch criteria) for a better balance.

Reaver is pretty sweet. haven't got all the abilities but looking at the defence ignoring ability in comparison to soul eater it really isn't worth it for the same hp cost.  Haven't gotten that ability just yet so I don't know for sure.

I also agree that samurai doesn't really have anything unique to offer my team, I just use it for stat growth

I have also been playing around a little with the ability editor, and i thought that there might be some potential with buff removal spells. I use "on hit" for additional effects that might make it a little more appealing to remove some buffs instead of just damaging.  Right now I'm trying delay turn on dispel and its not bad; punishes buffed enemies enough to warrant the use of the ability.

I'm still just starting so I don't have all that much feed back but I will let you know if anything pops up at me as I play!

Thanks for the hard work
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 14, 2016, 10:41:10 pm
@Bear: Possess allows the Possessed unit to only use skills directly from its skillset. In other words, if the skill involves going into a secondary skillset, Possess can't use it. For some reason, sometimes basic things like Attack can't be used when Possessed, and I'm not sure why that is. See below for some planned upcoming balance changes as far as Sniper, Soldier, and Samurai are concerned. Also, do you mind if I use your Dispel idea? I really like it.

The next update will be sometime in the next month or so. Below is a list of just some random changes I have in mind for the next update, bearing both of your feedback in mind.

GENERAL:
-POTIONS NOW HEAL 50 HP
-HI-POTIONS NOW HEAL 25% MAX HP
-X-POTIONS NOW HEAL 50% MAX HP
-ETHERS NOW HEAL 50 MP
-REPLACE TURBO MP WITH ILLUDE

SOLDIER:
-BREAK SKILLS NOW TAKE FACING INTO CONSIDERATION

ARCHER:
-LEG SHOT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-ARM SHOT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-BURIAL TO BECOME SURGE, DEALING WEAPON DAMAGE AND KNOCKING TARGET BACK
-LIGHTNING STRIKE TO BECOME COVER FIRE, DEALING HALF WEAPON DAMAGE OVER A LARGE AOE, REQUIRES BOW/GREATBOW
-BLACKOUT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF

PALADIN:
-DEFEND TO BECOME TAUNT, INFLICTING IMMOBILIZE AND BERSERK ON AN ADJACENT TARGET
-COVER TO BESTOW DEFENDING ON USER AS WELL AS COVER
-HOLY BLADE TO BECOME HOLYSTRIKE, WEAPON RANGE, HOLY DAMAGE, DISPELS BUFFS ON HIT
-WAR CRY TO SILENCE SURROUNDING UNITS

HUNTER:
-OUST NOW MAY DELAY A MONSTER UNIT, RATHER THAN BLIND IT

SAMURAI:
-DAMAGING IAIDO SKILLS ARE NOW STRONGER

NECROMANCER:
-BRAINROT NOW DEALS FULL MP DAMAGE ALONG WITH HP DAMAGE
-SEAL EVIL NOW HAS REDUCED ACCURACY
-PUTRIFY IS NOW STRONGER
-CRUCIFY NOW FUNCTIONS PROPERLY, HAS AN INCREASED MP COST

NINJA:
-UNSPELL NOW HAS 4 RANGE

ANIMIST:
-CUISINE NOW RESTORES 50% OF AN ALLY'S MAX HP

FUSILIER:
-FIRESHOT IS NOW AIM, BESTOWING ACCURACY UP TO THE USER
-BOLTSHOT IS NOW BINDSHOT, DEALING WEAPON DAMAGE AND IMMOBILIZES THE ENEMY FOR A SINGLE TURN
-ICESHOT IS NOW BARRAGE, UNLEASHING TWO WEAPON STRIKES AT ONCE AT HALF ACCURACY EACH
-TRUESHOT IS NOW DASH, INCREASING THE USER'S MOVE
-WARPSHOT'S ACCURACY IS NOW FIXED

ORATOR:
-INTIMIDATE'S MAGICK DOWN EFFECT NOW HAS PERFECT ACCURACY IF ATTACK DOWN LANDS, INSTEAD OF BEING CALCULATED SEPARATELY
-FRIGHTEN'S IMMOBILIZE EFFECT NOW HAS PERFECT ACCURACY IF SLOW LANDS, INSTEAD OF BEING CALCULATED SEPARATELY
-INSULT MAY NOW INFLICT ADDLE AS WELL AS BERSERK, WITH ADDLE LANDING IF BERSERK LANDS
-MIMIC BABUS NOW HAS 4 RANGE

TIME MAGE:
-UNDO IS NOW DEMI, WHICH DEALS 50% DARK DAMAGE TO A UNIT BASED ON CURRENT HP
-EXTEND IS NOW COMET, WHICH DEALS NON-ELEMENTAL MAGICK DAMAGE IN A SMALL AOE

TEMPLAR:
-RASP AND SOUL SPHERE TO DEAL MORE MP DAMAGE

GREEN MAGE:
-SLEEP IS NOW BLESS, WHICH EXTENDS THE DURATION A BUFF OR DEBUFF CAST BY THE AFFECTED USER PERSISTS

SPELLBLADE:
-WISPLIGHT NO LONGER BESTOWS EXTEND

SNIPER:
-BESO TOXICO NOW DEALS DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-DEATH SICKLE NOW DEALS DAMAGE AS WELL AS RANDOM DEBUFF
-MARKSMAN'S SPITE IS NOW BARRICADE, WHEREIN THE USER SETS SPIKE TRAPS IN TILES SURROUNDING THE USER
-ARROW RAIN IS NOW EAGLE SHOT, WHICH DEALS WEAPON DAMAGE TO ANY UNIT ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD, REQUIRES A BOW/GREATBOW

DAEMON:
-ALL ULTIMA IS NOW DARK HOLY, DEALING TREMENDOUS DARK DAMAGE TO A SINGLE UNIT
-ULTIMA MP COST UP TO 99

BARD:
-SOUL ETUDE TO CURE DEBUFFS OF ALL ALLIES (?)

GEOMANCER         ->      DRAGONKIN

-Shining Flare:         ->      (Flare Breath) Deals magickal Fire damage in a cone in front of the user.
-Venom Squall:         ->      (Spark Breath) Deals magickal Thunder damage in a cone in front of the user.
-Avalanche:         ->      (Gungnir) Deals weapon damage three tiles ahead of the user.
-Mist Storm:         ->      (Reis' Wind) Restores 25% HP of all units within a large AoE of the user.
-Nature's Embrace:      ->      (Dragon Ascension) Deals heavy magickal damage at low accuracy from afar.
-Artifice's Embrace:   ->      (Dragon's Gift) Sacrifices the user to revive an ally at full HP.
-Life's Embrace:      ->      (Frost Breath) Deals magickal Ice damage in a cone in front of the user.
-Earth's Embrace:   ->      (Holy Breath) Deals magickal Holy damage in a cone in front of the user and may reduce RESISTANCE.

MIRROR ITEM         ->      EXPERIMENT (Move to Alchemist?)
   
Mirror Potion:         ->      (Shrapnel) Deals defense ignoring physical damage to a single unit and inflicts DEFENSE DOWN.
Mirror Hi-Potion:      ->      (Mega Potion) Heals 50 HP to all allies.
Mirror X-Potion:      ->      (Hyper Mighty G) Bestows PROTECT, SHELL, REFLECT, and ASTRA on a single unit.
Mirror Ether:      ->      (Hero Drink) Bestows CRITICAL UP to a single unit.
Mirror Elixir:      ->      (Panacea) Removes debuffs from all allies.
Mirror Down:      ->      (Negabomb) Deals defense ignoring magickal damage to a single unit and inflicts RESISTANCE DOWN.
Mirror Echo:      ->      (Raven Yawn) Deals Wind damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Kiss:         ->      (White Mask) Deals Holy damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Needle:      ->      (Zeus' Wrath) Deals Thunder damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Water:      ->      (Fish Scale) Deals Water damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Antidote:      ->      (Gaia Drum) Deals Earth damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Drops:      ->      (Black Mask) Deals Dark damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Bandage:      ->      (Antarctic Wind) Deals Ice damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Remedy:      ->      (Unicorn Horn) Removes all buffs and debuffs from a single target.
Mirror Kerchief:      ->      (Bomb Arm) Deals Fire damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Rust:      ->      (Grenade) Deals physical damage in a small AoE.
Mirror Crystal:      ->      (Ninja Sutra) Inflicts Charm on a single unit.
Mirror Grimoire:      ->      (Mega Ether) Restores 50 MP to all allies.
Mirror Matter:      ->      (Megalixir) Fully restores the party's HP and MP.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 14, 2016, 11:14:03 pm
These changes look sick!  Guess I'm gonna have to be on a break from playing since I'm relatively close to the end of the game :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 14, 2016, 11:16:45 pm
Glad you like them! I forgot to add under Green Mage:

-Blind and Oil will have summon AoE, since neither are particularly useful at the moment.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 15, 2016, 09:38:37 am
Changes look promising! I cant wait to try them, and feel free to try the on hit effects for buff removals, they are all yours
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Madeen on February 15, 2016, 09:04:15 pm
Geomancer: Seriously?  You destroy their unique advantage, being long range magic, to change it into cones... a mage with cones!  It's nearly suicide :/  Even basic fire has better range.
Plus you gave them a physical skill... I mean, geomancer was the only full mage gria class, and they only have 4 classes... my favorite class just turned into a letdown, sorry :/

Fusilier: Who's going to use barrage?  What's the obsession with half accuracy stuff, its really unpleasant, I rather use a normal hit with normal accuracy.

Sorry to bash your ideas, but someone has to be the bad guy and give negative feedback I suppose :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 15, 2016, 09:26:56 pm
The trouble with Geomancer is that if you do a weather themed skillset, it only has access to two skills then. If you make it a full terrain based job, it becomes the Druid. Ultimately, there's no real way to make it decent with the gimmicks it's given. As far as Range is concerned, Gria can fly and are ridiculously mobile, meaning they can get to wherever they need to go. If you want more ranged magick, using the Vartan's wind spells are your best bet. Ultimately, the Geomancer/Mirror Item changes won't be made until much later, so there's time for me to come up with something better (which I likely will, since I'm not 100% behind Dragonkin, myself). I'd be open to hearing some ideas! :D

Fusilier's Barrage may actually end up being really powerful, honestly. Half accuracy combined with the Accuracy Up buff of Aim and Concentration means you can easily score 2x damage from weapon range for free. :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Madeen on February 16, 2016, 08:35:28 am
Quote from: Eternal on February 15, 2016, 09:26:56 pm
The trouble with Geomancer is that if you do a weather themed skillset, it only has access to two skills then. If you make it a full terrain based job, it becomes the Druid. Ultimately, there's no real way to make it decent with the gimmicks it's given. As far as Range is concerned, Gria can fly and are ridiculously mobile, meaning they can get to wherever they need to go. If you want more ranged magick, using the Vartan's wind spells are your best bet. Ultimately, the Geomancer/Mirror Item changes won't be made until much later, so there's time for me to come up with something better (which I likely will, since I'm not 100% behind Dragonkin, myself). I'd be open to hearing some ideas! :D

Fusilier's Barrage may actually end up being really powerful, honestly. Half accuracy combined with the Accuracy Up buff of Aim and Concentration means you can easily score 2x damage from weapon range for free. :P


I dont mind the dragon theme, its just range and physical skill that bothers me.  You could give them other skills than cone (of course still magic).
Even if they're mobile, they still need to get close to melee range to hit anything, and that's bad because mages cant take a hit (unless you make them wear armors instead of robes).
Beside, since they can fly, they cant even utilize that to attack, as cones probably require them to be on the same height as target or nearly.

I havent played the hack yet so I dont know about other gria jobs but, one has to remain magic.
It was bad enough in vanilla geomancer secondary skillset only had 2 magic skills.

Maybe you could give them non-elemental magic, or elements that arent in the game much, like earth or holy... and please a decent range.

I know there are already many skills that damage + debuff but, a magic skill that damages + immobilize would be awesome, its the best debuff for a mage.

I wouldnt mind one cone in the skillset, if you make it larger :)  Like instead of 1-3 tiles in front of user, make it 1-3-5?

A heal is a good idea, give versatility, maybe add a buff in the lot?

Actually, is a buff that boost magic range/height possible?  I'd love that, and maybe cones wouldnt be that bad then.

Still, gria mage is all about hitting from afar and avoiding enemies.  If they have to land and go near melee, then why not a buff that reduces move (or disable fly?) and boosts defense?
That way I guess they can be both mobile and ranged, and melee-ish but tougher.
(Kind of like Reis dragon/human form?)

Oh and a buff like regen but for mp would be neat :D

At any rate, I must insist on the magic part, I actually would love gria to have more magic skills than in vanilla as they were limited to geomancy + two wind skills from raptor :/


And you have a point about barrage :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Zekken on February 16, 2016, 10:29:46 pm
Brand new to this forum, was trying to find a good srpg for mobile and then i read somewhere about mods for ffta and ffta2. Was quite excited to hear that, and with a bit of magic got it working on my phone!

This mod seems really good, will enjoy it a ton!

It says on the first post that there will be a stat changelog of sorts. And unless I'm really blind, I haven't seen one so far.

Is there one, or are the stats all the same as base-game?

Thank you for the hard work, it's really appreciated!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 18, 2016, 12:14:15 am
@Madeen: See below for a new (slightly absurd) concept I came up with for Geomancer's replacement. It's both silly and absurd and it should make for a decent mage job.

@Zekken: Welcome to FFH! I'm still messing around quite a bit with stats, so there won't be a guide up yet. I hope you enjoy the mod, and please post any feedback you may have!

Anyhow, the concept job is Gourmand, a Gria mage-type unit that can use a variety of effects by using the Cook command (formerly Mirror Item), which gives Gria some much needed versatility. Gourmands excel at long-range combat and being able to support allies, being able to fill either role and switching back and forth as the situation demands, though they lack the AoE that Vartans have. Using their skills, Gourmands can fill just about any role in a party.


-Cook: The user consumes a normal item and converts it into a food item, which can take a variety of effects depending on the item used.

-Boil: The user rapidly heats the air in a given area, dealing Fire damage in a small AoE.

-Devour: The user consumes an HP Critical foe, removing it from the field and boosting the user's stats.

-Iron Chef: The user threatens an ally to work harder, restoring the target's HP and potentially bestowing either Protect, Shell, or Astra.

-Flair: The user puts on a dramatic cooking display, causing all enemies who are looking directly at the user to be drawn closer to the user.

-Engorge: Magickally engorge the target with food, damaging it and nullifying its evasion until the next turn.

-Flash Freeze: The user drops a target's temperature to below zero, dealing Ice damage and potentially causing Stop.

-Bequeath Bacon: The user makes the best meal ever and revives an ally to full HP at the cost of the user's life.


COOKING

Potion:          ->         Sugary Candy: Highly sugar-filled candy restores a target's HP by 50%
.
Hi-Potion:       ->         Leftovers: The target is fed leftovers from another meal, gradually restoring HP.

X-Potion:        ->         Mossfungus Soup: A soup with highly toxic- but delicious- mushrooms is created, damaging and lowering Resilience.

Ether:           ->         Vintage Wine: A rare and deliciously aged wine is drunk by the party, restoring the MP of all allies by 50.

Elixir:          ->         Buffet: A great feast is created, restoring the HP of all allies by 50%.

Phoenix Down:            ->         Fizzy Soda: The user drinks a highly carbonated drink, loosing a belch that deals magickal damage in a cone.

Echo Herbs:            ->         Peanuts: Triggers an enemy's peanut allergies, dealing damage to it and delaying its turn.

Maiden's Kiss:            ->         Oyster Stew: Create a highly aphrodisiac stew that deals Water damage to a unit and may Charm it.

Golden Needle:          ->         Cafe au Lait: Brew a coffee so caffeinated that it bestows Haste and Move Up on the target.

Holy Water:           ->         Cocktail: Craft an alcoholic cocktail that may Berserk and Addle the target.

Antidote:        ->         Fruit Salad: Toss a healthy and refreshing salad that purges the target's body of all debuffs.

Eye Drops:           ->         Flan Filet: Serve a dish consisting of hardened Flan that raises Defense and bestows Protect.

Bandage:         ->         Rancid Roast: Serve meat that's been around for about five years, damaging and Poisoning the target.

Remedy:          ->         Spoiled Milk: Serve a glass of milk that's been around too long, damaging and removing the target's buffs.

Handkerchief:        ->         Ambrosia: Serve a delicious, revitalizing drink that bestows Shell and raises Resistance.

Knot of Rust:            ->         Omelette: Turn some rust into an egg. Somehow. Restores a target's HP and MP by 25%.

Eureka Crystal:         ->         Pot Roast: Serve a hearty pot roast to a unit, raising all its stats.

Grimoire Stone:        ->         Just Dessert: Best served cold. Deals damage equal to the user's lost HP.

Dark Matter:          ->         Pie Meteor: Drop a giant, meteor-shaped pie (or pie-shaped meteor?) from the sky, damaging all enemies and potentially lowering their Attack, Magick, or Resistance, aiding in the Gourmand's survival.


Again, this is just a concept. I'm not sure if it's too absurd to use or not though. A big hand of credit goes to Celdia's Complete Class Patch for the idea, based off of Homemaker and Butler!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Madeen on February 18, 2016, 05:32:13 am
It's quite interesting, I love the concept of changing mirror items, gives plenty of new abilities!

However, mirror item is from seeqs not grias?

And you didnt mention range, I hope they are quite good :)

Also, do they require items to be consumed?  How does it work?  I mean, the original skill require you to have the item in your inventory...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 19, 2016, 10:35:21 am
@Eternal: I think the reaction ability regenerate is broken, regen isn't added
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Jumza on February 19, 2016, 01:42:54 pm
I think that Eternal's probably going to move mirror item from the Seeq's to this Gria job :P I imagine it'll function just like mirror item did in vanilla with new effects.

Enough speculation though, Eternal I fully support and love the Gourmand that you have designed! It's awesome!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Bonesy on February 20, 2016, 12:02:03 am
So far the only real "issue" I've had is losing like half my people to monster units on the find the muskmallow mission but that's probably my fault lol.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Ivalice4Life on February 22, 2016, 05:16:59 am
Eh Eternal,can u import the music from the first ffta into this one?? This game has small amount of music and they re use the same song for like the entire game,especially quests apart from the main story quest. Like every damn non story quest is the same bgm as the last quest and its pretty rare wen it changes.Theres like 4 songs from ffta and the rest come from ff12,and they SPAM the same shit man pls import if possible -_-
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: whapak on February 22, 2016, 10:44:12 am
hi, can i still use ar codes with this hack?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Bonesy on February 22, 2016, 04:28:17 pm
Quote from: whapak on February 22, 2016, 10:44:12 am
hi, can i still use ar codes with this hack?


yes they're the same

in other news i think my favorite (new) class is orator, because let's face it orator is way better than the shitshow tinker was
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 22, 2016, 08:50:46 pm
Sorry for the immense delay, I was at a workshop out of state, so I didn't really have reliable internet for the past several days.

@Madeen: Indeed, using Cooking would consume an item just like Mirror Item would, so collecting things like Dark Matter, Knots of Rust, etc. would be important. Think of them as a fancier FFT Chemist.

@BearPRIME: What unit tried triggering Regenerate? I don't recall there being any issue with it, but I'd like to test this further.

@Bonesy: Monsters are ridiculously strong early game, but this is so that they're still somewhat strong late-game. They get easier, I promise! Orator is a good job, but it's going to be even more buffed in the next update. :D

@Ivalice4Life: I can't change the music, sadly. I actually really like A2's soundtrack.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 23, 2016, 11:01:28 pm
Double post update time! Most of the new updates have been put in place, along with some other minor bug fixes. The Gourmand will also be added in the next update with any luck. Thank you all for your patience as I was out of town! :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 24, 2016, 08:59:39 pm
@Eternal all the units i've come across dont trigger regen effect with regenerate, both mine and the AI units. Regen effect still works when the buff is added (like when using choco barrier) in some other means.  Also lifespring does work, not sure if they are connected.

Also thought of a pretty cool idea for some abilities maybe. I recently got to using immobilize on next turn(rooted effect from cannoner's mortar ability) on some skills, most notably I use it on arrow rain to make it like a covering fire, pinning the opponent down. I use at half accuracy so its not too OP.

Thanks for your work its turning out great! 
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 24, 2016, 10:06:10 pm
I'll have to check that out. Not sure why that'd stop working all of a sudden, since I didn't alter any Regen-imbuing skills.

Gourmand testing is going far more smoothly than expected. Making a few minor changes to their skillset for bugfixing's sake.

-Bequeath Bacon will instead be Iron Skillet, a skill that revives an ally with 1 HP or deals physical damage to Undead. The animation is Magick Hammer's, which is pretty damn cool. *hammer dong* -> *ally gets up from the dead*.

-Devour will now consume an ally to raise the user's stats. Is it worth it to sacrifice a unit to boost the user's stats? You can revive your ally, but most forms of revival revive at 1 HP now, meaning you'd need to tactically revive back. It's a gamble, but it's one that can pay off astronomically.

Tomorrow I'll work on Cook, making a new skill to replace Mirror Item (Ranger), and then the next release should be good to go!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Madeen on February 25, 2016, 09:12:14 am
Quote from: Eternal on February 24, 2016, 10:06:10 pm
I'll have to check that out. Not sure why that'd stop working all of a sudden, since I didn't alter any Regen-imbuing skills.

Gourmand testing is going far more smoothly than expected. Making a few minor changes to their skillset for bugfixing's sake.

-Bequeath Bacon will instead be Iron Skillet, a skill that revives an ally with 1 HP or deals physical damage to Undead. The animation is Magick Hammer's, which is pretty damn cool. *hammer dong* -> *ally gets up from the dead*.

-Devour will now consume an ally to raise the user's stats. Is it worth it to sacrifice a unit to boost the user's stats? You can revive your ally, but most forms of revival revive at 1 HP now, meaning you'd need to tactically revive back. It's a gamble, but it's one that can pay off astronomically.

Tomorrow I'll work on Cook, making a new skill to replace Mirror Item (Ranger), and then the next release should be good to go!


Guessing you take devour from FF8 :)

But how does raising stats actually work?  Temporarily? And which stats..?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 25, 2016, 10:27:14 am
The stat boost would only be for the battle (until the unit dies), just like any other stat boosting buff. It would raise ATK, DEF, MAG, RES, and possibly SPD. I forget which stats are incorporated into the Stats Up effect.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: Eternal on February 25, 2016, 06:06:05 pm
It's here! Attached to this post and soon the very first post is FFTA2 GG version 0.70. We're getting there, folks! This will be the last update for a bit until more gets documented and researched, and should be mostly bug-free.

GENERAL:
-POTIONS NOW HEAL 50 HP
-HI-POTIONS NOW HEAL 25% MAX HP
-X-POTIONS NOW HEAL 50% MAX HP
-ETHERS NOW HEAL 50 MP
-TURBO MP HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH ELUSION
-CERTAIN SKILLS HAVE HAD MP COST CHANGES
-MOST SOURCES OF REVIVAL NOW ONLY REVIVE A UNIT WITH 1 HP

SOLDIER:
-BREAK SKILLS NOW TAKE FACING INTO CONSIDERATION

ARCHER:
-LEG SHOT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-ARM SHOT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-BURIAL TO BECOME SURGE, DEALING WEAPON DAMAGE AND KNOCKING TARGET BACK
-LIGHTNING STRIKE TO BECOME COVER FIRE, DEALING HALF WEAPON DAMAGE OVER A LARGE AOE, REQUIRES BOW/GREATBOW
-BLACKOUT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF

PALADIN:
-DEFEND TO BECOME TAUNT, INFLICTING IMMOBILIZE AND BERSERK ON AN ADJACENT TARGET
-COVER TO BESTOW DEFENDING ON USER AS WELL AS COVER
-HOLY BLADE TO BECOME HOLYSTRIKE, WEAPON RANGE, HOLY DAMAGE, DISPELS BUFFS ON HIT
-WAR CRY TO SILENCE SURROUNDING UNITS

HUNTER:
-OUST NOW MAY DELAY A MONSTER UNIT, RATHER THAN BLIND IT

SAMURAI:
-DAMAGING IAIDO SKILLS ARE NOW STRONGER

NECROMANCER:
-BRAINROT NOW DEALS FULL MP DAMAGE ALONG WITH HP DAMAGE
-SEAL EVIL NOW HAS REDUCED ACCURACY
-PUTRIFY IS NOW STRONGER
-CRUCIFY NOW FUNCTIONS PROPERLY, HAS AN INCREASED MP COST

NINJA:
-UNSPELL NOW HAS 4 RANGE

ANIMIST:
-CUISINE NOW RESTORES 50% OF AN ALLY'S MAX HP

FUSILIER:
-FIRESHOT IS NOW AIM, BESTOWING ACCURACY UP TO THE USER
-BOLTSHOT IS NOW BINDSHOT, DEALING WEAPON DAMAGE AND IMMOBILIZES THE ENEMY FOR A SINGLE TURN
-ICESHOT IS NOW BARRAGE, UNLEASHING TWO WEAPON STRIKES AT ONCE AT HALF ACCURACY EACH
-TRUESHOT IS NOW DASH, INCREASING THE USER'S MOVE
-WARPSHOT'S ACCURACY IS NOW FIXED

ORATOR:
-INTIMIDATE'S MAGICK DOWN EFFECT NOW HAS PERFECT ACCURACY IF ATTACK DOWN LANDS, INSTEAD OF BEING CALCULATED SEPARATELY
-FRIGHTEN'S IMMOBILIZE EFFECT NOW HAS PERFECT ACCURACY IF SLOW LANDS, INSTEAD OF BEING CALCULATED SEPARATELY
-INSULT MAY NOW INFLICT ADDLE AS WELL AS BERSERK, WITH ADDLE LANDING IF BERSERK LANDS
-MIMIC BABUS NOW HAS 4 RANGE

TIME MAGE:
-UNDO IS NOW DEMI, WHICH DEALS 50% DARK DAMAGE TO A UNIT BASED ON CURRENT HP
-EXTEND IS NOW COMET, WHICH DEALS NON-ELEMENTAL MAGICK DAMAGE IN A SMALL AOE

TEMPLAR:
-RASP AND SOUL SPHERE TO DEAL MORE MP DAMAGE

GREEN MAGE:
-SLEEP IS NOW BLESS, WHICH EXTENDS THE DURATION A BUFF OR DEBUFF CAST BY THE AFFECTED USER PERSISTS
-BLIND NOW HAS 2 AOE
-OIL NOW HAS 2 AOE

SPELLBLADE:
-WISPLIGHT NO LONGER BESTOWS EXTEND

SNIPER:
-BESO TOXICO NOW DEALS DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-DEATH SICKLE NOW DEALS DAMAGE AS WELL AS RANDOM DEBUFF
-MARKSMAN'S SPITE IS NOW BARRICADE, WHEREIN THE USER SETS SPIKE TRAPS IN TILES SURROUNDING THE USER
-ARROW RAIN IS NOW EAGLE SHOT, WHICH DEALS WEAPON DAMAGE TO ANY UNIT ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD, REQUIRES A BOW/GREATBOW

DAEMON:
-ALL ULTIMA IS NOW DARK HOLY, DEALING TREMENDOUS DARK DAMAGE TO A SINGLE UNIT
-ULTIMA MP COST UP TO 99

BARD:
-SOUL ETUDE TO CURE DEBUFFS OF ALL ALLIES

GEOMANCER IS NOW GOURMAND, WHICH USES A VARIETY OF NICHE SKILLS AND CAN CONSUME ITEMS TO ALTER THE FLOW OF BATTLE.

http://imgur.com/a/ifsPJ
http://imgur.com/emMr2EA

If you come across any bugs or have any other feedback, just let me know! This is a working patch, which means I'm open to and welcome community input! Seeq and Animists are going to be redone for the next update, and I know Regenerate is bugged (though I'm not sure why), so don't worry about those. Thanks to everyone who's played so far, and I hope everyone enjoys this update!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on February 26, 2016, 01:22:06 pm
Thanks for the update!

I've been playing around, mostly on 0.62 before last night, and I want to mess around a little more before providing feedback, but there is one thing that's caught me off guard a couple times: does Darkga (and perhaps Dark/Darkra) come with a 50% insta-KO effect? It's gotten me slaughtered in the Oversoul storyline mission a few times now.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 26, 2016, 06:39:52 pm
@chocolatemoose, darkga does have KO on hit at debuff accuracy, so for units like soldiers its like 60 percent, reallllllly dangderous
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 26, 2016, 08:22:52 pm
Bear is correct, Darkga has a chance to inflict KO. Using things like Reflect, Astra, and spreading your units out is vital for that fight. Dark inflicts Blind, Darkra inflicts Sleep. Monster skill tooltips will be updated when I ultimately decide what the heck I want to do with them, heh.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Madeen on February 27, 2016, 07:12:23 am
Wasnt there a vest immune to KO?  Or it was changed..? :p
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 27, 2016, 10:09:36 am
Madeen is correct. If you happen to have access to the Wygar armor, that will also defend against KO.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Johnny on February 27, 2016, 10:38:12 am
Is this balanced/meant for normal or hard difficulty? I kind of need help deciding which one should I choose for play through, I would want to avoid situation where I go far into the game just to restart because it's too hard/too easy. Yesterday I played a bit on hard mode, I only got to Camoa but I started having doubts if I shouldn't drop it to normal. Most fights were very easy (well partially thanks to dumb AI, not much you can do) then I picked up some contracts in Camoa and well I got worried when I saw Lamia hitting my whole party for 60 hp, wolves confusing half of my party with screech spam wasn't pleasant either. I'm bit worried I'll get stuck on some fights later in the game and since (I think?) this has level scaling overleveling to clear troublesome contract isn't really an option. On the other hand I remember unmoded game got easier with time thanks to unlocking more jobs and abilities.

For context I completed game once on hard mode some .. years ago. I found it too easy and I wasn't doing any munchkin stat growth optimization or even going out of my way to use some outright broken ability combos. I had no clear plan what which unit is going to do, I kind of levelled all the jobs I had equipment for without worrying those levels in fighter will cripple my magic damage later or whatever. Should I stick to hard or will that kind of unoptimized playstyle cause problems?

Thanks for the mod by the way.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 27, 2016, 12:54:20 pm
@johnny,

from my experience I recommend Hard.  The difficulty spikes early especially with the monster battles but as you get better abilities I found it more balanced.  However there are some challenging battles later on where some strategy is required, usually tame and posses come in great use.  Overall I would recommend hard it only gets easier from where you are now, but its entirely up to you
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 27, 2016, 01:29:04 pm
Welcome to FFH, Johnny! During my test run, I tested it on Hard, and it seemed to be about where I wanted it. It's pretty grueling early-game (especially against monsters), but it events out quickly. Using buffs and debuffs are vital, as is positioning your units carefully. Don't worry about stat growth. I had my units as all different jobs and they turned out fine. Plus, you have several levels of growth to mess with, so it's not like you're stuck with what you make.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Johnny on February 27, 2016, 01:59:03 pm
Alright, I'll stick to hard. Thanks for answers.

Oh BTW how does level scaling work? Does it take average level of all your units, just highest level unit? Does it work only with deployed units or is your whole guild taken into account?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 27, 2016, 02:02:17 pm
Unfortunately, at this time, it takes the average level of your entire clan into account. So while this means that enemy levels will be slightly higher than Vanilla, it's not really enough to make it too much more challenging since unless you swap units out constantly, units like Adelle and Cid will drag the average level down. That said, units that are above the average level will retain their vanilla levels, meaning things like Cinqueleur will still be (somewhat) challenging.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Johnny on February 27, 2016, 02:39:36 pm
Huh, so I guess you can brute force things with overleveling after all. Just make sure to recruit bunch of low level units. Works for me, I don't intend to abuse it but it's nice to have some kind of plan B if I'm really stuck. If it would be possible neat way around it would be to grant some exp to all your units, certainly not as much as for those who participated in a battle but still you can assume they are doing something, I don't know like training (I mean if I remember right you do get some AP this way). That way even units you never ever use would get some levels and it would be massive quality of life improvement for people who would like to have big roster of specialists they rotate in and out.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 27, 2016, 03:05:49 pm
In an ideal situation, I'd be able to make it scale based off the highest level party member in the clan, but that's not viable at the moment. C'est la vie. :(
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.62- Last Updated: 1/31/16
Post by: wrongstuff on February 28, 2016, 02:56:39 am
Quote from: Eternal on February 25, 2016, 06:06:05 pm
It's here! Attached to this post and soon the very first post is FFTA2 GG version 0.70. We're getting there, folks! This will be the last update for a bit until more gets documented and researched, and should be mostly bug-free.

GENERAL:
-POTIONS NOW HEAL 50 HP
-HI-POTIONS NOW HEAL 25% MAX HP
-X-POTIONS NOW HEAL 50% MAX HP
-ETHERS NOW HEAL 50 MP
-TURBO MP HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH ELUSION
-CERTAIN SKILLS HAVE HAD MP COST CHANGES
-MOST SOURCES OF REVIVAL NOW ONLY REVIVE A UNIT WITH 1 HP

SOLDIER:
-BREAK SKILLS NOW TAKE FACING INTO CONSIDERATION

ARCHER:
-LEG SHOT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-ARM SHOT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-BURIAL TO BECOME SURGE, DEALING WEAPON DAMAGE AND KNOCKING TARGET BACK
-LIGHTNING STRIKE TO BECOME COVER FIRE, DEALING HALF WEAPON DAMAGE OVER A LARGE AOE, REQUIRES BOW/GREATBOW
-BLACKOUT TO DEAL DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF

PALADIN:
-DEFEND TO BECOME TAUNT, INFLICTING IMMOBILIZE AND BERSERK ON AN ADJACENT TARGET
-COVER TO BESTOW DEFENDING ON USER AS WELL AS COVER
-HOLY BLADE TO BECOME HOLYSTRIKE, WEAPON RANGE, HOLY DAMAGE, DISPELS BUFFS ON HIT
-WAR CRY TO SILENCE SURROUNDING UNITS

HUNTER:
-OUST NOW MAY DELAY A MONSTER UNIT, RATHER THAN BLIND IT

SAMURAI:
-DAMAGING IAIDO SKILLS ARE NOW STRONGER

NECROMANCER:
-BRAINROT NOW DEALS FULL MP DAMAGE ALONG WITH HP DAMAGE
-SEAL EVIL NOW HAS REDUCED ACCURACY
-PUTRIFY IS NOW STRONGER
-CRUCIFY NOW FUNCTIONS PROPERLY, HAS AN INCREASED MP COST

NINJA:
-UNSPELL NOW HAS 4 RANGE

ANIMIST:
-CUISINE NOW RESTORES 50% OF AN ALLY'S MAX HP

FUSILIER:
-FIRESHOT IS NOW AIM, BESTOWING ACCURACY UP TO THE USER
-BOLTSHOT IS NOW BINDSHOT, DEALING WEAPON DAMAGE AND IMMOBILIZES THE ENEMY FOR A SINGLE TURN
-ICESHOT IS NOW BARRAGE, UNLEASHING TWO WEAPON STRIKES AT ONCE AT HALF ACCURACY EACH
-TRUESHOT IS NOW DASH, INCREASING THE USER'S MOVE
-WARPSHOT'S ACCURACY IS NOW FIXED

ORATOR:
-INTIMIDATE'S MAGICK DOWN EFFECT NOW HAS PERFECT ACCURACY IF ATTACK DOWN LANDS, INSTEAD OF BEING CALCULATED SEPARATELY
-FRIGHTEN'S IMMOBILIZE EFFECT NOW HAS PERFECT ACCURACY IF SLOW LANDS, INSTEAD OF BEING CALCULATED SEPARATELY
-INSULT MAY NOW INFLICT ADDLE AS WELL AS BERSERK, WITH ADDLE LANDING IF BERSERK LANDS
-MIMIC BABUS NOW HAS 4 RANGE

TIME MAGE:
-UNDO IS NOW DEMI, WHICH DEALS 50% DARK DAMAGE TO A UNIT BASED ON CURRENT HP
-EXTEND IS NOW COMET, WHICH DEALS NON-ELEMENTAL MAGICK DAMAGE IN A SMALL AOE

TEMPLAR:
-RASP AND SOUL SPHERE TO DEAL MORE MP DAMAGE

GREEN MAGE:
-SLEEP IS NOW BLESS, WHICH EXTENDS THE DURATION A BUFF OR DEBUFF CAST BY THE AFFECTED USER PERSISTS
-BLIND NOW HAS 2 AOE
-OIL NOW HAS 2 AOE

SPELLBLADE:
-WISPLIGHT NO LONGER BESTOWS EXTEND

SNIPER:
-BESO TOXICO NOW DEALS DAMAGE AS WELL AS DEBUFF
-DEATH SICKLE NOW DEALS DAMAGE AS WELL AS RANDOM DEBUFF
-MARKSMAN'S SPITE IS NOW BARRICADE, WHEREIN THE USER SETS SPIKE TRAPS IN TILES SURROUNDING THE USER
-ARROW RAIN IS NOW EAGLE SHOT, WHICH DEALS WEAPON DAMAGE TO ANY UNIT ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD, REQUIRES A BOW/GREATBOW

DAEMON:
-ALL ULTIMA IS NOW DARK HOLY, DEALING TREMENDOUS DARK DAMAGE TO A SINGLE UNIT
-ULTIMA MP COST UP TO 99

BARD:
-SOUL ETUDE TO CURE DEBUFFS OF ALL ALLIES

GEOMANCER IS NOW GOURMAND, WHICH USES A VARIETY OF NICHE SKILLS AND CAN CONSUME ITEMS TO ALTER THE FLOW OF BATTLE.

http://imgur.com/a/ifsPJ
http://imgur.com/emMr2EA

If you come across any bugs or have any other feedback, just let me know! This is a working patch, which means I'm open to and welcome community input! Seeq and Animists are going to be redone for the next update, and I know Regenerate is bugged (though I'm not sure why), so don't worry about those. Thanks to everyone who's played so far, and I hope everyone enjoys this update!


https://media.giphy.com/media/xkjkDrg95nT4Q/giphy-facebook_s.jpg
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on February 28, 2016, 12:53:23 pm
@Eternal, just a heads up that the % max hp in the editor is actually switched with % current hp, so high potions only heal 25% of the remaining health. Was trying to heal my warrior at 12 hp and got 3 hp back lol.

also my game froze when i tried to use one of the druid abilities, i think it was vine, to delay the enemy.

everything is playing great so far
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Madeen on February 29, 2016, 01:29:22 pm
Quote from: Eternal on February 27, 2016, 10:09:36 am
Madeen is correct. If you happen to have access to the Wygar armor, that will also defend against KO.


Thought so, I always bought like 6 of those for particular fights like many arhimans with roulette.
There's such a battle in clan trials in vanilla... which reminds me, did you do anything to those?
Or do you have any plan?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on March 01, 2016, 09:17:18 am
@Bear: Thanks for the heads up! I'll make a fix before I go out of town on Thursday. Naturally, the one thing I didn't test because it seemed so straightforward is messed up because of a mislabeling, heh. I'll try and figure out what happened with Vine, since it worked fine when I tested it ages ago.

@Madeen: Nothing different planned for them yet, really. I'd love to learn how to edit Clan Privileges though.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Madeen on March 01, 2016, 09:44:13 am
Quote from: Eternal on March 01, 2016, 09:17:18 am
@Bear: Thanks for the heads up! I'll make a fix before I go out of town on Thursday. Naturally, the one thing I didn't test because it seemed so straightforward is messed up because of a mislabeling, heh. I'll try and figure out what happened with Vine, since it worked fine when I tested it ages ago.

@Madeen: Nothing different planned for them yet, really. I'd love to learn how to edit Clan Privileges though.


Yeah some privileges are really OP... though if the challenge is hard, why not?
If you cant edit privileges, maybe you can edit battles?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zekken on March 02, 2016, 07:35:22 pm
I found something weird happen involving grapple, here is the imgur link.
http://imgur.com/a/YGJSD

The Japanese letters, not sure if they are supposed to be there. Looks a bit wierd.

Otherwise, so far loving the mod! Something i found annoying was how thunder was lawed in most of the battles i played. This was quite annoying as moogle knight had atmos blade, red mage only could use thunder and cure for awhile. Maybe it was just my luck, or it was purposely designed that way.

Monsters were pretty dangerous early on, just had to not stand in a line and then they died pretty quickly. (Stupid wolves and them always getting the disable off)



Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on March 02, 2016, 08:09:33 pm
Glad to hear you're having fun! The Rooted status only appears in Vanilla when a unit uses Mortar, and it doesn't display that text, so it was never translated as it was never meant to display. It's a known thing, and I'm not particularly inclined to fix it anytime soon. I didn't change any of the Laws, so they were the same in Vanilla.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on March 04, 2016, 10:14:02 pm
Got a list of Blue M'a'gyk's or is it the same as vanilla but easier to learn now?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on March 06, 2016, 07:09:33 pm
Blue Magick is more or less the same as Vanilla, with a twist. When a monster uses it, it'll often have a more potent effect than if a Blue Mage uses it. This was done for two reasons: For one, a Blue Mage is just mimicking the true technique, meaning it won't be as effective. And secondly, it's done for balance reasons.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on March 19, 2016, 06:13:55 pm
Hey all! Just a heads up that I'm still working on the next update, but progress has been slow since my computer is out being upgraded. I'm looking to have the next update out by the end of March!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on March 20, 2016, 10:47:20 pm
huzzah!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on May 06, 2016, 11:12:14 pm
I've been meaning to give feedback on what I've played through so far. I'm about 180 missions in - haven't played through all classes.

In general: I feel you on wanting to make statuses (buffs/debuffs) more relevant in A2:GG. However, I don't think they're as useful or necessary as they could be for a couple reasons: 1. dealing damage (physical or magical) is still relatively more effective than debuffing 2. debuff accuracy relatively low compared to damage. In other words, if I can take an opponent down in ~4 hits at roughly 90% accuracy, why spend a turn trying to debuff at 50% accuracy (if I'm lucky?). In order to remedy this I think defense and resistance stat growths need to be buffed relative to attack and magick growths. Decrease the effectiveness of damage the regular way and debuffs will become more useful. Alternatively, adding small damage amounts to debuffs can also make them relatively more effective. MP becomes less of an issue as the game progresses, so the MP-restore skills become less useful too.

Also, that first Illua battle. Wow, that was not easy.

I generally don't mention stat growths below; I imagine you want to redo them at some point.

Hume:


Bangaa:


Nu Mou


Viera


Moogle


Gria:


Seeq


Other
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on May 08, 2016, 03:18:19 pm
I also wanted to provide some feedback aswell!  First of all i really like what you've done with the game and its great!  almost 200 missions and i've used most of the classes.  I also used the ability modifier to make some changes of my own and I will mention some that i thought were interesting, but most stayed the same. 

Hume:

Soldier: found this to be an excellent class, the damage along with the debuff is fantastic.  Great secondary class for ranged units

Archer: The major change i added which i thought was interesting was reducing damage on cover fire (summon AOE damage) and adding a 50% normal hit ratio to immobalize for 1 turn.  I found it a great way to keep some of my medium range units safe from the beastly monsters.  I also raised the speed stat for this class cuz i wanted at least some reason to level as over soldier early game.

Paladin: Decent class, left mostly the same but did find a weird glitch once with cover (also im not sure if you programmed it to be small AOE or if that was me). once the unit covering my other died the game froze when the covered nit was attacked again, only happened once though.

Hunter: Basically my go to range class. I felt that drill shot was not worth the crazy AP to learn but i get that it replaced Ultima.

White & Black mages: white is very useful early on and black mages are great all game but i do feel that the quirk for fire magic and to a lesser extent lightning is far better than the one you set for ice.  HOly for white mages actually was set to deal less damage than holy for bishops (not sure if this was intentional)

Necromancer: I really didn't use it too much but the abilities seem good if a bit situational

Blue mage: pretty much the same as before although i like how the blue magic is a slightly weaker version of the monster spell

Samurai: Found the class awkward with its unusual stat growth for ability set.  The magic damage didnt seem to fit well with the build and the paper thin defence make the adjacent targeting a little hard to pull off for the damage they deal.  I tried to work with them the best i could but i found that they were just outclassed by regular spell casters or primary physical units.  Hard to find a place in my team for them

Fighter: This class was balanced out and i like it quite a bit.  for some reason the AI really likes using grapple alot (I'm looking at you Bowen).

Nu mou

White, Black & Necro: same deal as before

Druid: class is dope! the general utility is fantastic at all stages of the game, although thorn is like a free bio reallllllly early on that can be used pretty often.  I like the situational abilities which determine what kind of unit it can be depending on the battle field.  However i have yet to hit with aqua (multi-hit water attack) cuz i suck.  I used this as a sub class literally all game on one of my units!

Time Mage: I have always like time mages but moogle outclasses for sure with snake eyes.  i haven't tried comet yet and i didnt check if that could be dual cast.  If it cant the higher growth of the nu mou might make them a little closer to moogle

Daemon: I really liked the concept of this class but i felt like the abilities were slightly underpowered for the turn to set up.  I ended up upping the damage on the abilities especially the single target one (dark holy) and i feel like it works better.  I did only try it out at higher levels so i dont know how balanced it is at the begining (magic seems to be OP early but generally balances out later).  I also noticed that Doom status triggers the death spell at the end of the count, but ince Death was replaced with prime the untis are now primed.  This can actually be a really interesting mechanic, i tried it with Banga canoner class.

Alchemist: still great i use as a primary for growth and generally good abilities.

Sage: I have always liked the sage for being more a hybrid class.  Another one of my primaries

Bangaa:

Warrior: decent sub job potential for things like canoneer

Monk: Also good for a sub class, balanced thorough game and utility is always useful

Dragoon: I really dont like the samyness of the vanilla breath attacks. what i did was add a gimmik along with reduced damage for some the the moves to make them more interesting. Don't know what can be done to make him more interesting but the moves are pretty good still so i used one.

Gladiator: Ultima sword with trickster and half mp is still OP late game.  However i like the concept of magic based abilities (even though you need level in other classes for magic growth), I did change them to either provide a buff to ally or damage foe and i think it increases the utility of the unit a lot as it lacks the best moves from the fighter.  Lighting sword now can restore 24mp to an ally (still costs mp), and blizzard tackle adds defending and protect to ally.  all of the elemental blades do damage to a foe (blizzard keeps its immobilize effect)

Myrmiddon: This was probably the only class i really didnt like.  The abilities are good when the opponent has them because breaking your equipment has consequences further than the battle itself but i often find that breaking equipment of enemies is lackluster for the most part.  Surprizingly rending shields is the most useful to decrease evade and its higher chance to hit.  Love the teddy bear icon that appear when you rend something that isn't there though. I dont know what i would do to change them though

Canoneer: underrated class, i really like it! 
I utilised the doom->prime thingy here.  I made mortar 3x damage but only usable when primed (flintlocked one) i also made it remove all buffs and cause addle on self.  Prime now adds the doom effect on self meaning that 3 turns from then you can use mortar.  I found this to be pretty fun and to fit with the whole canoneer concept as a class. 

Oracle: I have similar issues with this class as chocolate moose, debuffs are okay but the lack of damage makes it kinda meh.  Also there are other classes with better debuffing abilities that cost less mana and stuff (sheep count 100% sleep instead of repose).  I messed around with adding physical damage to some of the abilities and it made want to use it more

Templar: like this class, all abilities work well here but i would make soul sphere more useful.  Most mages have alot of mana and soul sphere doesn't really dent it even with imporved damage.  Usually just better to damage directly.  I made the mp damage drain and added hp damage that was 1x damage dealt, so it is only useful for targets with mp.  I found this change to be really useful making mp depletion more viable in this class

trickster: havent used for A abilities, just tried ranged ultima   

Viera:

Fencer: like soldier a good class for most of the game and a decent sub job.  for some reason retreat didnt work as intended.  ALso reprise is pretty much the best ability and used it more often than not

White mage: see above

Red Mage: thank god you balanced double cast! still useful though

Green Mage: I like status effects but i feel like there are better classes to do it: sage and alchemist each have blind or poison and sleep is best used with animist. I can see the appeal of having one unit with all of them though.  Maybe if tranq (accuracy up) was still a thing than green mage would shine (or be OP). still used one early game though

Summoner: I like the only allies/foes addition, really makes up for the lack of double cast.

Occultist: POSSES is great! so useful and pretty OP.  At least the AI can use it well too.  Ohter abilities are pretty okay but i pretty much Posses another unit for some intersting effects.  Cant use druid abilities but can use most everything else even if they are sub job abilities. (cant simply attack though)

Kinoichi: dope class with a dope system.  Well balanced with high risk for high reward and required good tacktics to use. 
I found a pretty interesting idea for this class replacing the utsumi (teleport and evade up) with a remove effect and quicken on hit.  Great for getting rid of weakened enemies and getting out of there. 

Sniper: pretty much left as was but double shot is kinda useless now when fencers have reprise. Also never found the trap setting to be useful. Maybe make it immobilize self but quicken so you can put some down and then act? i dunno

Spellblade: great class with great abilities and awesome subjob for almost any unit. use one all the time. life steal need mp cost for sure though

Moogle: I didnt really change much at all they were pretty well balanced with nice abilities for most classes. Aim is great on fusiler even of the break skills are meh. Moogle hero is fun to play and i use it as a sub job for hurdy. 

Seeq: Basically Reaver is the best class bar none.  the rest can be support jobs but i found seeq pretty bad until i unlocked the reaver.  The utility the ranger provides wasnt really worth it as a unit in battle, could do better with a support mage or something.  Berserker can do damage i guess but not as good as reaver (life steal is OP sometimes).

Gria:

Raptor: Zephr and storm are too good.  the limits you have on them for just the three spells are okay but i would reduce the damage of the spells to make it fair.  I dont think that they should have the ability to do as much damage (or more) as a red mage with a spell and physically attack everything hit. Pretty much made the other jobs redundant except for:

Gourmand: LOVE THIS CLASS! overeating to death always makes me laugh.  Engorge is pretty much the bread and butter (pun intended) of this class, reducing evasion to 0 is really really good.  Also flair is a pretty useful ability that requires actual strategy to use effectively, isolating certain units from the rest of their team.  Fantastic job with this btw.

Overall I really loved all the classes and will provide more feedback when i have time to play more.  Keep in mind that the changes i mentioned were suggestions that i made based on my opinion and may not really be good for the kind of hack you're trying to build.  if anything strikes your fancy then you can totally use and modify them to your will.

Thanks for the hard work Eternal!



Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on May 13, 2016, 10:22:00 pm
Thank you all for the feedback! It always makes me feel good when I get feedback, especially since I've been uber busy lately and depressed that I haven't been able to work on A2 as much as I've wanted to, among other life drama going on at the moment. Your timing is rather prudent, since I've been hoping to work more on A2 as things slow down a bit. That said, I've switched around a lot on my computer and I'm having issues with Desmume saves, so I need to play around with it for a bit. I'm currently coming up with concepts to replace jobs like Templar and Berserker. Namely, things like Templar will stay Templar, but with revised/improved themes.

Allow me to first focus on you guys' thoughts about the current jobs:

-HUMES-

Soldier: Soldier is definitely intended to be an early-game class, much like FFT's Squire. That being said, the Breaks are infinitely more useful now, and can still be used for a large portion of the game should one desire to. For that matter, if one has Art of War as a skillset, there's almost no reason to use a normal attack when you can be Breaking an enemy's stats. Since Breaks can be used with Weapon Range, using it with an Archer, a Hunter, etc. is also a great combination.

Thief: Thieves will be buffed by proxy when we have the ability to edit enemy formations and I can give them full equipment sets. As it stands right now, much like in FFTA, FFTA2 enemies are poorly equipped to deal with your party, and once they're buffed, the Steal skills in turn will find more use.

Archer: I disagree that the Rooted status needs to go on a Summon AoE skill, but I do think a Speed boost would help them immensely, to help them get more chances to debuff their enemies and bind them. A quick Archer could be really deadly in the right hands, if they were speedier.

Fighter: I find it kinda hilarious (and unintentional) that Grapple works on large enemies. I think I'll keep that just because it's funny as hell.

Paladin: Cover is single-target, but the Druid's Golem's Cover is not. That's a weird bug though. It's something to keep in mind, too, as I was considering making Cover AoE, but I don't think I will.

Hunter: To be completely fair, I don't like Drill Shot either. It was mostly just a fill-in until I found something better to replace Ultima Shot with. I may give it a linear AoE so that it's more useful, so that it deals AoE damage and bypasses Defense. Not sure yet though.

Black Mage: I agree with you about Blizzard's gimmick not being that great. I think what I'm going to do is give it a chance to inflict Rooted so that mages that use it are protected by slinging spells from afar. You can either go for Range with Thunder, AoE with Fire, or keep enemies at bay with Blizzard.

White Mage: Thanks for pointing out the issue with Holy! That's been fixed immediately. I'm debating whether I should buff Cure/Cura/Curaga, but I don't want it to be crazy.

Necromancer: Definitely a situational job, but things like Seal Evil are ridiculously helpful in Undead battles. In fact, Undead were buffed to a point where Necromancer, White Mage, and Black Mage shines. That said, I want to change some of their skills. Tainted Love will remain the same, but won't be able to Charm Undead, since that's what Styx is around for. Bard is being nerfed slightly, so things like Requiem won't outpace the Necromancer's sheer ability to decimate Undead.

Blue Mage: Definitely still a good job, very versatile, but it's not nearly as overpowered as it was before. Makes for a great secondary skillset!

Seer: Spells that can be Magick Frenzied are also the spells that can be Dualcast, so using Magick Frenzy is a lot less overpowered than it was before, but it's still quite potent.

Samurai: I definitely agree, I'm pretty let down by Samurai as well. Thankfully, that's why testing exists! Part of what I've found is the problem is that stat growths in FFTA2 are very important. By the time you unlock Samurai, you've sunk a lot of points into Physical Attack, and their skills are Magickally based. To that end, I think I'm going to simply switch their Iaido skills to being physically based, and that should make them more useful. Whereas the Fighter is about damage, the Soldier is versatile, and the Paladin is about defense, the Samurai would be about physical AoE skills with the ability to debuff enemies that try to get close to it and take it down. With its low defenses, using evasion tactics would be crucial until the Samurai gets to stack debuffs on surrounding units.

Ninja: Using the -ton skills for their debuffs is what I used them for. Think of it like FFT Geomancy. Not great for damage, but wonderful for crippling enemies! Dual Wield is always a plus, too!

-BANGAA-

Warrior: Much like Soldier, it blends well with Ranged jobs, such as Cannoneer and Trickster.

Monk: Chakra and Revive are great skills that can be used all-game, and makes for a great secondary skillset. Holy Sign also removes all buffs and debuffs, so it can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes. It becomes slightly trickier if a unit is afflicted with both, though! :P

Gladiator: Gladiator is being revised in the very near future, simply because I don't like a lot of it. I only have four skills to play around with on them though, so that's the tricky part. Ultima Sword will probably remain in some capacity though!

Myrmidon: Like Thieves, Myrmidons will benefit greatly from improved enemy rosters. Frost/Storm/Burn are great for non-human fights, especially if Frost gets Blizzard's Rooted upgrade. Ultimately, I think they'll stay as they are, simply because I know they'll be far more useful once enemies get upgraded.

Dragoon: Much like Gladiator, I don't have room to mess with them too much since they share skills with Dragons. I have some ideas in mind, but I'm not sure how to implement them yet. That said, I agree that they feel too same-y.

Oracle: Well, Sheep Count shouldn't be 100% Sleep (and has now been fixed!), so that helps Repose stay on par slightly. I wouldn't be averse to making their debuffs inflict damage as a way of making them stand out a little more. That said, my other idea was to reduce Resilience all around to make debuffs slightly more accurate, but I'm not sure how everyone else feels about that.

Templar: Templars are being buffed. Again. Note that they have a dual use that not many people use them for, and that's (shockingly) outspeeding the enemy. Templars have access to Haste and Piercing Cry (which flat out decreases Speed, and persists, unlike Slow). Rasp will be greatly buffed and Soul Sphere will be becoming something new altogether, most likely, perhaps a Slow spell, or a Reflect ability. To that end, I want them to become veritable mageslayers, so these buffs are needed. A big issue with Rasp at present is that it's considered Magickal, which means three things. 1) Bangaa have crap MA and can't do much regardless, 2) Enemy mages tend to have high Resistance, and 3) Even at 100 Power, Rasp can't dent high enemy MP late-game.

-NU MOU-

Druid: Everyone loves Thorns, which is kinda hilarious since I thought nobody would use it! I'm really glad to hear it's popular. Thorns might get a nerf soon to be on par with Level 1 Magick (20 Power instead of 30), but I'm a little afraid to touch it now that everyone likes it, haha. My other idea is to simply reduce Vertical Tolerance from 3 to 0. 3 seems excessive.

Time Mage: Yes, Comet can be used with Snake Eyes! Dualcast (with your Moogle!) at your heart's content.

Scholar: Scholars at present are pretty damn powerful, and will be even more useful once enemies are able to be buffed. Things such as Paling and Magick Barrier can make you nigh invincible, even if they are single-target. I used them in some difficult late-game fights, and they helped tremendously. Regen, as always, is useful, and Veil is great when you're fighting debuff spamming foes. I used them as a secondary on my healer and had great results. They also make for a great skillset to use before you get into the thick of the fight.

Daemon: Such a tricky class to balance, and I knew it'd be that way from the start. Dark Holy is already slated for a buff from 140 to 180 power, which should make it more usable. Do you recall what ability you used inflicted Doom? I thought I removed all instances of Doom, but I knew I'd miss some.

-VIERA-

Fencer: I'll have to look in to why Retreat isn't working. It was working fine when I tested it. Yay for more testing! Hopefully it at least feels like a more interesting starting job now. It has a lot more depth than it used to.

Occultist: Possess is interesting in that it can only access skills that are in an immediate skillset. So things that require going into a sub-sub-skillset can't be used by Possess. Using their other skills strategically is key. Geist is great for restoring HP and MP and completely undoing (literally) an enemy's hard work. Abomination can quickly prevent enemy advance, Offering is a great desperation move, Elder One deals huge damage and can cause chaos among the enemy ranks, Squassation is great for dealing damage and quickly summoning support Espers, Sanguis flat out deals a lot of Water damage, and Xenoglossia is one of the best mage support skills in the game. As with other advanced jobs, it's all a matter of using it tactically. Granted, Possess (even used on your own allies) is a great way of accumulating damage, but there are many ways to play Occultist.

Sniper: Doubleshot is going to be replaced with a skill that damages and delays an enemy's turn, which is quite valuable (especially against monsters) early on. While not flashy, I think it's a better alternative to current Doubleshot.

Summoner: Summoners are basically glorified Black Mages, but for Viera. Thankfully, they smart target and things like the wide AoE Regen and Reflect are convenient, niche things you can't really find anywhere else. Much like Viera as a race as a whole, they don't excel in anything, but they can always fill a role in your party.

Kunoichi: This was such a risky job to make, but I'm glad people enjoy it. Definitely not my own cup of tea, but it makes me happy to see people using it! Note that I try not to risk adding Quicken to too many things; the AI spams it to no end and it draws battles out.

Green Mage: To be fair, Green Mage is a starting job, and isn't overly flashy. Extend is a great buff, and using Protect/Shell at the very start of a fight when your units are grouped together is great. Evasion Up is a great buff for frail units late-game as well. I think Green Mage will more or less stay the same, but perhaps get a boost in Attack so they can actually hit things fairly hard with their hammers.

Spellblade: Glad to hear that people are enjoying the class! Blitz and Sanguinate will both be getting MP costs in the next update.

-MOOGLE-

Moogle Hero: Dia is great for killing Undead, and Heal is great when things are getting dire as a quick pick-me-up. The Moogle Hero may not be great at magick, but it sure as hell tries!

Corsair: Here's how it works. It IS basically Tinker, but how it works is that even if it displays 100%, it's not lying. It will be a 100% chance. It's just that it only has a chance to hit either all enemies, or all allies in the targeted radius. So if you're not seeing anything, it just means the game rolled the target that doesn't exist within the area. And I thought I gave Corsair the ability to use Cards and Guns. I'll double check it, and if they can't, I'll fix that for the next update.

Engineer: Satellite Ray is amazing, but once you unlock Fallout late game, you'll love it. 100% accuracy and Poison proc can wipe entire swaths of enemies out. Healbot gets outclassed rather quickly, IMO, but it's still great for a quick patch-up job.

-GRIA-

Vartan: You can only Dualcast skills that you know, so if you haven't learned those two, you can't Dualcast/Frenzy with them. I'll play with Gale/Cyclone/Whirlwind and see how I should go about making their numbers a little more fair.

Ravager: On the list to be fully revamped. I'm thinking it's going to be a Shield-related job, focusing on evasion, and bonking things on the head with their Shields.

Gourmand: Gourmand is full of surprises. Keep playing with it and I'm sure people will find some pretty amazing uses for them. ;)

-SEEQ-

Berserker/Viking: On the list to be fully revamped. I have some interesting things in mind for them.

Ranger: On the list to be buffed, just not sure what I have in mind yet. Definitely an increase in Speed.

Reaver: Shadowblade will be gaining an MP cost, just not sure how much yet.

-SPECIAL JOBS-

Bard: Angelsong will be nerfed slightly, and Soul Etude will be changed, just not sure how I want to go about it yet.

Dancer: Dancer is overall pretty damn amazing, as her changes were made long before I balanced everything else. (Same with Bard, for the most part). Mincing Minuet will be nerfed, among a few other tweaks to her job overall.


Thank you everyone for the feedback! Sorry it took so long for the reply, but again, things have been crazy for me lately! That, and I've become addicted to FFXIV...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on May 19, 2016, 11:48:48 pm
So, I think Berserker will be the next job I tackle. I need to test if this will work or not, but I think Berserker is going to become a class that focuses on brute force, raw offensive might fueled by devastating combos. Basically, by comboing the various Berserker moves, you'll be able to execute chains of attacks that deal tremendous damage, increased radius, and increased precision.

Proposed Skillset:

Scream: Bestows Berserk, Attack Up, and Critical Up on the user.
Ravage: Deals weapon damage to the target and makes the user's next weapon attack more accurate.
Furore: Deals physical damage to surrounding units, knocks them back, and may Immobilize them.
Bloodlust: Increases the user's next weapon attack damage, will stack with Haymaker.
Sovereignty: Deals weapon damage to the target and increases the AoE of the next weapon strike by 1.
Unfeeling: The user takes no damage for a single turn, but becomes far more vulnerable to debuffs.
Haymaker: Deals weapon damage to the target and makes the user's next weapon attack more powerful.
Combo: Deals weapon damage to the target and increases the amount of attacks done with the next weapon attack.

Basically, the Berserker's bread and butter would be to either Scream and just rampage everything mindlessly, or use Unfeeling and Bloodlust as you draw near the enemy, followed by your combo skill of choice; using Bloodlust -> Haymaker -> Sovereignty for raw power, or using another combination of skills depending on the situation. I need to make sure I can make this happen (since self procs can be wonky in A2), but I think I can pull it off.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on May 22, 2016, 09:49:36 am
Berserker change looks real good if you make it work! Will also make dispel a more useful tool removing the self buffs!   
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on June 01, 2016, 03:26:11 pm
Hey Eternal,

Been playing this mod on and off for a year now - really enjoy the variety and updates that gives me insight into the design process. Here's a few interesting things I've noticed:

Trying the traditional Thief leveling makes your base stats very weak.  Probably shouldn't have tried - I assume this was intentional.

Occultists' Possess makes the Cinqlur mage battles trivial
Druid's Tame is like Possess' similar but less useful brother, still OP
Moogle Hero's debuff removal is amusingly useful in the early game
Nercomancers are basically useless outside of fighting undead...


A suggestion for making fencers more useful - add a weapon range skill that ignores facing and always deals side attack damage?

As for white mages, perhaps they need less of a numbers buff and more of a treatment to specialize - a range increase would be useful.

And thanks again for this wonderful mod - are you going to release stat growth charts anytime soon?


Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on June 04, 2016, 02:27:00 pm
@grassmudhorses

the stat growth is almost identical to vanilla, the best way to check is by using the job editor for ffta2 (I think its by Lennart, you can google it and its in one of the ff hacktics boards).  Just load the rom with the editor and each job has its listed starting stats and growths which you can modify.  On the top of my head the only 2 major changes were the arcanist which is now Daemon (11 attack growth and 7 magic, i think the rest is the same) and the chocobo rider (growths dependant on what colour mount it has; yellow for high HP, red for high attack, black for high magic, Brown for def, green for res and white for MP).  Also note that the editor will list the jobs in their vanilla names.

Other than that Eternal would know more, but I am glad that there are more people than me who enjoy this kind of hack! 
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on June 04, 2016, 10:25:21 pm
Hey guys, thanks for your posts! I've been meaning to reply for a while now but unfortunately haven't really had the chance.

Grassmudhorse: Thanks for playing! I'm glad you're having fun. Although FFTA2 GG may not be the most balanced of my mods, it's sure a lot of fun, and quite different from Vanilla, don't you think? In regards to your feedback...

Thieves: Thieves will be receiving a slight stat buff in regards to Attack and possibly Speed. That said (much like FFT), some jobs just aren't optimal for stat growth, and I'm fairly comfortable with Thief being one of those jobs. Instead, they get a pretty kickass skillset that's pretty good, and will be even better once I can edit enemies. Stealing and being able to drain HP and MP, and having the ability to accrue extra Gil with each attack (Mug) is great, and they're pretty fast little jerks with a fair bit of Evasion behind them as well.

Possess: Possess makes most things trivial, haha. It's extra fun to use it on your own party members, essentially allowing a unit to act twice by sacrificing the Occultist's turn. I want to make it enemy only, but then it'll be able to affect Monsters, too, which would tread on the Druid's Tame, which may be a fair trade, considering how many other things Druids can do in addition to Tame.

Necromancers: Can't win them all, unfortunately. Necromancers definitely shine during Undead battles (as one would expect), but their Putrify, Brainrot, and Tainted Love skills are all really quite useful as well. Though they may not have quite as large a skillset when facing living enemies, they're still rather potent. Putrify, in particular, is very deadly since it can make future debuffs on the target far more accurate (such as, say, the Charm effect caused by Tainted Love).

Fencers: Fencers already get some fun skills, though I may buff Shadowstick to deal 50% Unevadeable Weapon Damage and Slow. Though they're a fairly basic job, they're very effective early on, as intended, similar to Soldier/Warrior. Manastrike may become a Linear skill that deals MP damage to give it some more use.

White Mages: White Mages are plenty useful already, IMO, and I gave them a few buffs recently to make them even more useful. Wall for Protect/Shell is nice to drop on the first turn for some early staying power until you can fell some enemies, and Holy gives them a late-game magickal nuke to drop on enemies' heads. Reraise and Esuna are always useful, and Raise is one of the few sources of ranged resurrection, allowing you to revive a fallen unit at an advantageous position out of harm's way to heal them back to full, since most revival sources now only revive with 1 HP.

As far as stat charts are concerned, I haven't touched stats much simply because I want to perfect skillsets first and work on stats from there.

EDIT: Thinking of a more interesting skillset for Ravager. Maybe something like the below, which focuses on leeching the enemy's stats and then messing with increased/reduced stats for maximum effectiveness.

Sweeping Spin:         Negatory Wave      Removes buffs from units in a line and reduces their RES.   
Sneak Attack:         Power Drain      Deals magickal damage to a single enemy, reduces its ATK, and boosts the user's ATK.
Full Assault:         Guard Drain      Deals magickal damage to a single enemy, reduces its DEF, and boosts the user's DEF.
En Garde:            En Garde         Bestows Counter and Evasion Up on the user.
Overpower:            Execute         Deals 50% weapon damage in a cone in front of the user.
Battle Cry:            Power Aura         Restores a large amount of HP to surrounding units and boosts ATK, reduces the user's ATK.
Tenacity:            Magicide         Deals physical damage to a single target and damages MP and reduces MAG.
Blast Wave:         Force Aura         Deals heavy damage to surrounding units, knocks them back and Roots them, but reduces the user's DEF.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on June 12, 2016, 04:54:51 pm
I was playing the excellent Brave New World mod for FF6 and it got me thinking about a class that could imitate Gau.

Gau is interesting because he's a combination of a Blue Mage and a Berserker; an interesting twist on a Morpher. Pro: gain abilities, Con: lose control. Any chance of creating a class that can approximate that?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on June 12, 2016, 08:12:24 pm
Sadly, something like that isn't really doable in FFTA2 to my knowledge. That said, it's a fun idea, but it's not particularly practical. Loss of control is a huge thing and would be more burden than benefit, IMO. Also, BNW is a great mod. I beat it about a year ago. :D
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Rucession on June 19, 2016, 12:29:58 pm
You could do Berserk+Silence+Prime and lock his "Wild" abilities behind the Primed buff, with his regular abilities disabled by Silence. The biggest problem with this setup is that Berserk/Silence can be dispelled or prevented by Astra, so you'll have to find some way to balance the game without those..

@Eternal
Your Berserker abillity ideas look fantastic, but I can't for the life of me get those Cannoneer buffs to work with melee attacks. They just consume the buffs without getting the benefits. They do work with all ranged weapons though, so that's something at least.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Spazzofspeed on June 19, 2016, 04:01:52 pm
I'm having some major problems with this mod. My units either start off with full MP or no MP. The MP never restores, not even the usual 10 MP every turn. This is a huge problem, due to a lot of my units being magic-based. Is this intentional or a glitch?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on June 19, 2016, 04:27:41 pm
@Rucession: I'm still tweaking Berserker a bit, but I'm having challenges since I can't get my test file to work, which is why the newest release has been delayed. It's good to know the Cannoneer buffs don't work with melee attacks. It's something I didn't anticipate and I'll have to test out myself. Thanks for the heads up!

@Spazz: Units start with full MP and MP regeneration is not a thing unless you use the Clan Privilege. Are you loading a Vanilla save? If so, that would explain it. Your unit's MP would be 0 and not regenerate at the start of the battle.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on June 22, 2016, 04:14:06 pm
Quote from: Eternal on June 19, 2016, 04:27:41 pm
Units start with full MP and MP regeneration is not a thing unless you use the Clan Privilege. Are you loading a Vanilla save? If so, that would explain it. Your unit's MP would be 0 and not regenerate at the start of the battle.


Sorry that sentence is a bit confusing... I just want to clarify:


Units start battles with full MP and HP

MP does not regenerate per turn.

There is a CP that regenerates MP per turn.

Vanilla saves have characters at 0 MP while in party. - any way to fix?

GG saves have characters at full MP while in party.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on July 02, 2016, 05:11:03 pm
Hey, sorry I didn't see this reply until now! I think to fix your Vanilla save characters, you'll have to feed them Ethers, Elixirs, or replenish their MP in some way and when you go into the next fight, they should go back to full MP. Heck, you may not even have to restore their MP. Just fight a battle, and then next battle they may be fixed. I haven't really tested it, but I imagine that's what would work.

Anyhow, I've been working on a new Gria job concept to replace Ravager, since I've not been happy with the old concepts. This is what I've come up with:

Introducing, the Wyrmkin! Wyrmkin are physically oriented jobs who, much like the Ravager, focus on decimating enemies with sheer force. That said, Wyrmkin take two things I was unhappy with (Doom status and Ravagers) and fixes them in a way that I like. The concept is this: Gria are very mobile units. The Wyrmkin is not. The Wyrmkin is a mighty glacier that will slowly edge towards you and crush you and all of your hopes and dreams. Wyrmkin will have only 2 Move (though they retain their ability to Fly, of course), and can use extremely potent weapon-based skills... when they're Charged. Wyrmkin also have access to a few skills without Charge, but their bread and butter is slowly getting close to enemies and striking them while Charged. That said, unlike the Daemon, the Wyrmkin's Charge doesn't wear off after using their skills, so they can stay Charged and slowly approach foes and crush them. The crux is getting close and staying alive while the enemy can rain down on you. They may not be fancy, but they will kill you. Charge can be dispelled, and Wyrmkin can only use their skills within 1 Range, so staying out of their way and dealing with them from afar is the way to go.

While outside of Charge, the Wyrmkin takes an opposite role: being a defensive unit that deals damage by countering and defending allies. Although Charge and offense is their main role, they can shift to a defensive role whenever necessary if it means keeping allies alive. How you use them is up to you!


Pain Spiral      (Deals 1x weapon damage at 100% accuracy to surrounding units, requires Charge)
Bloodfeast      (Deals 1x weapon damage and restores HP equal to damage done, requires Charge)
Phalanx      (Covers adjacent units and grants Counter to the user)
En Garde      (Grants Evasion Up and Counter status to the user)
Flight         (Grants Move Up to the user, but reduces Attack and Defense)
Accumulate      (Places the user in Fury status, granting Charge status in three turns)
Reboot      (Fully restores the user's HP and removes all buffs and debuffs, including Charge, requires Charge)
Disembowel   (Deals 2x weapon damage to a single target within melee range, requires Charge)

All of this will need to be tested, of course, but I'm happy with the overall concept.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: yunerotroy on July 15, 2016, 10:51:53 am
please finish the hack  :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on July 15, 2016, 06:39:57 pm
unless you want to work his job for him fark off
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on July 23, 2016, 07:35:52 am
Hey Eternal, I'm liking the idea of the wormkin but wouldn't using it as a sub class for raptor kinda ruin the whole slow approach thingy?  still looks, great keep up the good work!

Also flair from gourmond drawing everyone in will be really good with this monster btw.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on July 23, 2016, 10:25:18 am
also a side question. How do you change animations of your custom moves? Lennart's ability modifier cant do that right?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Rucession on July 23, 2016, 11:49:52 pm
@BearPRIME: The ability editor can't, but Lennart's data spreadsheets contain most of the addresses for ability animations.

@Eternal: Update on the Cannoneer buffs - Target works with melee weapons, but it just makes the user melee swing at whatever's in front of him on his next turn. Also, how did you manage to get abilities other than the Flintlocks' to consume the Primed status?

*Off-topic* Has anyone managed to remove Mirror Mail's auto-reflect status? It seems to be hard-coded and even changing the item's equip effect or the Reflect ability fails to remove it.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: JoeCool on July 27, 2016, 05:56:43 am
-________-
July 2016 are we serious
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on July 27, 2016, 09:49:02 am
Joe, if you're going to be consistently negative, I would advise just dropping your armor and gil and walking away. Real life takes priority over anything on FFH, and if you can't be patient and wait for a quality product, you're free to look elsewhere. I'm not going to rush anything I do just to succor you. Make no mistake- I'm grateful that you're excited. I just ask that you have patience. I'm in the midst of working out some bugs and making sure every job feels fun and balanced, and that's meant restarting the game several times over. If I see Klesta one more time, I'd quite welcome having a beak to the eye. Ultimately, you want everything to feel polished, yes?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: JoeCool on August 01, 2016, 05:43:57 pm
LOL?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: 3lric on August 01, 2016, 07:32:33 pm
I warned you.

Now, once you are able to post again in 55 days or so, once your account is unsuspended, maybe you should come back and apologize to Eternal for being a dick.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Marche on August 02, 2016, 02:14:30 am
Hey eternal the OP is kinda misleading and I dont know what's in this hack.. Will you update the OP in the near future?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on August 03, 2016, 02:10:27 am
Quote from: Eternal on July 27, 2016, 09:49:02 am
Real life takes priority over anything on FFH, and if you can't be patient and wait for a quality product, you're free to look elsewhere.


Agreed, better not rush it, or we might get another FF14 beta  :o :mrgreen:

No but seriously, thanks so much Eternal.  It's amazing how little time I would have for personal projects like this...

Awesome work so far, and hopefully we get some way to up the midgame dip in difficulty... Getting some auctions done, and once Doublecast/Turbo MP Red Mage/Blood mages hit, the difficulty takes a huge dive.  Perhaps a nerf to Turbo MP is in order?

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 20, 2016, 06:21:50 pm
Great news, everyone! I'm hoping to have an update out tomorrow or early next week. Things are wrapping up nicely. I'm also working on making a Master Guide on Google Docs with ability info- more will of course be added later. This way it can be easily updated as updates continue. Thank you all for your support and patience!

The Master Guide (WIP) can be found here. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FElMgk7lmSE-EKn8p916iPlSKPWw6SFduYcLXQbakjk/edit#gid=0)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on August 21, 2016, 02:39:35 pm
Looking forward to it!

The guide will be super-helpful for having the most up-to-date info.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Marche on August 26, 2016, 12:33:46 pm
Quote from: Eternal on August 20, 2016, 06:21:50 pm
Great news, everyone! I'm hoping to have an update out tomorrow or early next week. Things are wrapping up nicely. I'm also working on making a Master Guide on Google Docs with ability info- more will of course be added later. This way it can be easily updated as updates continue. Thank you all for your support and patience!

The Master Guide (WIP) can be found here. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FElMgk7lmSE-EKn8p916iPlSKPWw6SFduYcLXQbakjk/edit#gid=0)

HYPE Looking forward to the update!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 27, 2016, 07:05:49 am
Hey all, wanted to give you an update since I promised a release this week. I had just about everything ready, save for a few text changes. Unfortunately, I went to work a few days back and came home to a power outage. When the power was restored, I was unable to turn my PC back on. I've tried everything to no avail, so I'm waiting for my IT guy to check everything out. He thinks it could be a power port issue despite my computer being connected to a surge protector, but we'll see. I've specifically instructed him to make this a priority so that I can get the update out to you as soon as possible. I asked Darth to post an update on here since I couldn't access FFH for a bit so as not to leave you all hanging, but I know he's been busy, so I apologize for the lack of communication.

I really apologize for the delay. The worst part is that I do some work from home now, so this is even affecting that. Thank you all for your patience, and wish me luck in getting this fixed. I just hope it's the power port and not something worse!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on September 07, 2016, 12:55:59 am
next time back it up in 11 places and spices lol
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Ivalice4Life on September 07, 2016, 06:44:53 am
Wow 9/7/2016 guys, still not at 1.0
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Lowin20 on September 07, 2016, 10:13:35 am
Hey his computer is in the hospital, that's enough to put anyone's life on hold. We ought to cut him some slack, as this mod will be worth the waiting without a doubt.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: 3lric on September 07, 2016, 10:32:56 am
Quote from: Ivalice4Life on September 07, 2016, 06:44:53 am
Wow 9/7/2016 guys, still not at 1.0


Hi JoeCool, I guess you were too dense to understand why you were unable to post on your other account. Or perhaps you didn't think that I'd notice an alt account, though it's well known that I thoroughly check each and every single account that registers to this forum.

Enjoy your ban, you are no longer welcome here.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Nyzer on September 07, 2016, 11:25:17 am
(http://www.harderbloggerfaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/633645003725135464.jpg)

I understand frustration with projects that are fraught with delays, but the whineposts accomplish nothing. Especially when you can see, on the very page you posted to, that Eternal's computer got bricked.

It also takes a real special kind of person to get asked to not be a dick by the mods, then go do it anyway on an alt account as if you think you're clever. So just don't.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on September 07, 2016, 08:51:46 pm
My computer should be being repaired sometime this week. The motherboard was fried and is getting replaced, and since I don't have a Windows key from my old one, that'll need to be reinstalled as well. Thankfully, my IT guy said my data should be fine, so with any luck that'll be true. Thankfully, the only things that I really need to do for the update are minor text changes.

And, believe me, as frustrated as that guy was, you can imagine my frustration when I realized my new computer that I spent hundreds of dollars on just a few months ago got fried by a one-off blackout. >:(
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Lowin20 on September 08, 2016, 08:28:19 pm
Quote from: Eternal on September 07, 2016, 08:51:46 pm

And, believe me, as frustrated as that guy was, you can imagine my frustration when I realized my new computer that I spent hundreds of dollars on just a few months ago got fried by a one-off blackout. >:(


Hang in there Eternal, the IT guys will work their magic. But yeah that is some freak bad luck right there.

#Pray4HisPC
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on September 14, 2016, 07:30:17 pm
Update: the parts are in and the repairs are being made this week. So, hopefully, early next week I'll be back at it. Thank you all again for your patience. Using this craptop for everything is a total pain!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on September 28, 2016, 07:34:28 pm
Update: my PC is fixed and I've continued making the text changes needed for the next update. Soon, testing and then a release! Thanks to all for your patience!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Irish~GoodBye on October 05, 2016, 05:18:44 pm
Hype! :D Im so looking forward to playing next update. 3 years later you are still being amazing; gotta love your dedication.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on October 07, 2016, 09:36:35 pm
Isn't it crazy to believe that this started 3 years ago!? I've learned so much since, and have been having a blast with it. It's a lot of tedious work that takes a lot of time (especially with work), but it's a great stress relief. Thanks so much for being a part of the journey!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: reck0ner on October 22, 2016, 03:16:38 pm
Man, i just created an account to appreciate your hard work and dedication, looking forward to play your mod as soon as it comes up online.

Good luck with the finishing line.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: ilcane87 on November 06, 2016, 07:55:05 am
Hey there Eternal, I registered to ask you if you have some kind of ETA for this release.

I'm not asking out of impatience, by all means do take the time to improve it to your own satisfaction, it's just that I've been itching to play through the game again, and while I would like to do it with your mod, if it's going to take a few more months to complete it I'd do it with the vanilla game instead.
But since I have no idea how close you are to a release, I'm really conflicted between starting it anyway or waiting just a little longer. :?

Hope you'll be able to solve my dilemma, and keep up the good work regardless. ;)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on November 06, 2016, 09:42:09 am
Hey, and welcome to FFH! I've been playing through the next release and came across some things I simply wasn't happy with and I'm in the process of fixing them, which has been made tough since I've been working a -lot- lately, and I mostly fall asleep when I get home, heh. My suggestion would be to start playing A2 GG with the current release. Your save will carry over when I release the next version. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Shizuo on November 11, 2016, 11:25:06 pm
I'd like to thank Eternal and everyone else involved for this great work. I remember playing this game long ago, had so much fun, but always found it to be a little lacking in terms of difficulty and diversity. It never occurred (until now) to me that somebody could be working on it, since it is, no doubt, a major title. Then i found this, and let me tell, boy was i happy. Reading through it all while trying not to learn much about the changes so i could enjoy it to its fullest, discovering and mastering the new jobs/abilities. All i can say is that i'm enjoying the hell out of it, playing this title that is one of my favorites of all time, with the twist in difficulty and variety. I'm not very far yet, but i couldn't help it and had to come thank you.

So once again, thank you, Eternal, for your work through what it seems to be 3 years now. I know this does not add anything to the project, but i think you'd like to know that your work is appreciated.

Cheers from Brazil, and yet again, thank you very much.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Marche on December 19, 2016, 07:43:25 am
Give this to me for christmas and I'll be your best friend! :D
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on December 19, 2016, 09:13:54 pm
but it's already out
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Marche on December 19, 2016, 09:51:53 pm
Quote from: Bonesy on December 19, 2016, 09:13:54 pm
but it's already out

the latest version?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on December 19, 2016, 10:38:38 pm
The version I'm working on now with the new Wyrmkin job isn't out yet. I was hoping it would be, but I've been facing lots of emulator challenges and I've been working every day during the week. The current release is stable and certainly fun and worth playing, so I'd advise using that for now. That said, we're hopefully going to increase our team's staff in January which means I won't have to work as often. At that time I'm hoping to revamp FFTA1 GG and continue work on FFTA2 GG.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Marche on December 20, 2016, 10:51:43 am
Quote from: Eternal on December 19, 2016, 10:38:38 pm
The version I'm working on now with the new Wyrmkin job isn't out yet. I was hoping it would be, but I've been facing lots of emulator challenges and I've been working every day during the week. The current release is stable and certainly fun and worth playing, so I'd advise using that for now. That said, we're hopefully going to increase our team's staff in January which means I won't have to work as often. At that time I'm hoping to revamp FFTA1 GG and continue work on FFTA2 GG.


Cool thanks for the info. Gonna play your KO 2.6 right now instead I guess
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: yunerotroy on December 28, 2016, 05:02:14 am
quick question! does the game crash when al-cid counters? since he can change classes now. read somewhere that he's missing animations. great job btw o/ keep it up :D

tested the latest build~~

fencer-reprisal makes the sprites black and sometimes with lines too
soldier-rend attacks deal full damage(no reason to use normal attack now)
archer-surge animation is wonky(hits the enemy before she uses the bow)
orator-looking at the weapon still shows tinker instead of orator(all classes with changed name share the same problem)
charm skill is op(hits 50% of the time) my orator never missed a single one after doing 7 missions
fighter-grapple skill shows chinese instead of hp lol and i dunno why it teleports the foe. the skill is wierd for a fighter.
fusilier-bindshot(same with grapple)
Buffing jobs just made hard mode much easier,enemy ai wont be able to pull off these new combos that the player can with these new skillsets. also some fights are too easy(wanted gilmunto is easier now because their skill is changed. they cant heal each other with lightning now) and some are too hard (wanted uhgor cant be damaged by normal attack. what i did is i repositioned my characters trapping 1 wolf and my mage on the back to use skills every turn. ughor does not use his rain of stone if 1 of his allies will get hit so he uses his other skills instead lol) i loved that fight. Also , veis,assassin sounds better than veis,kunoichi for me. daemon too, its wierd for a final fantasy game. i think you should keep the job names more final fantasy ish XD  :lol: nice job though the game is more fun now, just needs more tweaking  :D. thank you for this :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on January 01, 2017, 08:18:13 am
Hey Yunerotroy, thanks for playing! I'll try and be as descriptive as possible so that you have the best idea as to why certain things are as they are.

There are certainly a few animation bugs because some abilities are hardcoded to have certain animations and some races can support some animations half the time, and other times they can't. That said, upon my testing, I've found that since the only issues are animation and aren't lasting that I didn't want to sacrifice a really fun skill for something minor like that. I'm sure there'll be a fixed animation in the future, but for now it's not too much of a concern.

Rend skills were buffed because the debuff isn't particularly useful, and having it deal 50% damage wasn't making it useful either. Art of War isn't a particularly great skillset, so I'm not feeling too bad about it having a strong advantage over the Attack command, especially since it forces you to either be a Soldier/Warrior or sacrifice your secondary skillset.

I can't change what names the item screen says yet. FFTA1 GG has this issue, too. It's annoying, but there's nothing I can really do about it at the moment.

The fact that you didn't miss with Charm at all just means the RNG favored you in those instances. It's a true 50%.

Grapple's point is to draw an enemy closer to the user and it pins them to that tile for the turn. It's a great way to keep an annoying fleeing/ranged enemy close to your melee brusiers. The Japanese text that appears just says "Rooted". The Rooted status appears on the Cannoneer's Mortar ability as well (but affecting the user), but since the status never actually displays, they never bothered to translate the text that shows when the status is afflicted on someone else.

As far as formations are concerned such as Wanted: Gilmunto, I agree. The challenge is that I'm extremely limited as to what I can edit at the moment, and formations are one thing I can't. The more immediate goal for FFTA2 GG was to create more interesting jobs, since that's something I do have control over. This is also the reason why we're not at 1.0 yet- I want to be able to edit formations before making it a true 1.0. It would just feel wrong otherwise.

As far as the jobs not feeling FF-ish, that's kinda the point as well. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a FF purist. I hate when jobs are changed up and made to feel different, but FFTA2 has a really cool base to use and it has the potential to make some really fun jobs. The jobs -are- mostly based on different parts of different FF games, if you look hard enough. The exception being Necromancer, which is directly based on Tactics Ogre's Necromancer. Here's a list of what each job is based on:

-Necromancer: Tactics Ogre's Necromancer
-Orator: FFT's Mediator/Orator
-Oracle: FFT's Oracle/Mystic
-Reaver: Dark Knights
-Vartan: Tactics Ogre's Vartan
-Samurai: FFT's Samurai
-Engineer: FFT's Engineer + Metal Gear Solid
-Spellblade: FFXIII's Paradigm Shift system
-Scholar: FFXIII's Synergist
-Daemon: FFT's Ultima and Ultima Demons
-Occultist: Bravely Second's Exorcist
-Myrmidon: FFT's Divine Knight
-Druid: FFT's Geomancer
-Kunoichi: One of the few completely original jobs created for FFTA2 GG
-Corsair: FFXI's Corsair
-Moogle Hero: FFI's Paladin/White Mage, FFXIII's Sentinel, and Dragon Quest's Heroes.
-Gourmand: Homemaker from Celdia's Class Patch

Hope this answers some of your questions!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on January 07, 2017, 11:22:33 pm

Quote from: Eternal on January 01, 2017, 08:18:13 am
Rend skills were buffed because the debuff isn't particularly useful, and having it deal 50% damage wasn't making it useful either. Art of War isn't a particularly great skillset, so I'm not feeling too bad about it having a strong advantage over the Attack command, especially since it forces you to either be a Soldier/Warrior or sacrifice your secondary skillset.


Also has a side effect of making the early game pretty balanced.  Well, compared to the living hell of vanilla hard mode early game.

Quote from: Eternal on January 01, 2017, 08:18:13 am
I can't change what names the item screen says yet. FFTA1 GG has this issue, too. It's annoying, but there's nothing I can really do about it at the moment.


I assume it's because it's actually an image, not text, right?

Quote from: Eternal on January 01, 2017, 08:18:13 am
-Engineer: FFT's Engineer + Metal Gear Solid


You got me intrigued.  Better start trying this class.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on January 07, 2017, 11:27:33 pm
Correct, they're technically images. As far as Engineer, I hope you enjoy nukes and lasers. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Inzanity on January 19, 2017, 03:33:31 pm
Looking forward to 1.0. :)

I will start my FFTA2 run with the current mod and update once you manage to release 1.0!

I just "finished" my FFTA run, so logically 2 is next. Normally i wouldnt play FFTA2 right now, cuz im not actually done with FFTA, but the mod im using (Extended) makes me unable to 100% FFTA; so its kinda on hiatus until thats fixed (and i have no idea how to do it myself :P).

Really loved my previous run through of A2, they always felt easy later on, when you got the level ups rolling. Hard mode made a fine early challenge though. (Friggen monster stats)

Personally i think that broken combos arent even a problem (Job/2nd Job combinations, etc). The problem in FFTA series is the broken stat scaling. Doesnt really matter if you dual wield or dual hand, if suddenly a normal attack deals 250+ dmg, the challenge is gone. If i were to mod the game, i would seriously tone down all offensive stat scalings (this will also keep magick relevant end game/higher levels) while keeping HP ratios. Also half all weapon stats or something...

To post something relevant to this topic:
Is the first post updated with all current changes/additions? With all i mean all!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on January 28, 2017, 11:11:30 am
@Inzanity,

Lennart's ffta2 editor has what your looking for. You can alter the starting and growth stats for all classes however you see fit.  I myself tend to reduce the offensive growth stats by 2/3 or something so that defensive units feel more defensive. 

as for the the current additions I dont think that the first post has updated.  You could use the ffta2 editor to view all the changed abilities but eternal has gone through the trouble of changing all the tool tips for abilities so they say what they actually do.  Outside of jobs and abilities most of the game is the same. The main changes to jobs include the assassin which is now kunoichi, a "deal damage based on lost hp" class, the arcanist which is a heavy magic damage dealer but requires 1 turn to prime a spell, the defender which is now a equipment destroyer, fusiler is now engineer firing lasers and stuff.  There is much more but you can check it out for yourself
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on February 28, 2017, 11:06:17 pm
Is it wrong that I check this thread almost every day for updates? Probably, but there are worse habits to have.

I had a couple other ideas for abilities:

- You could do a reverse quicken: delay a unit's turn until right before its following turn
- Teleport: warp another unit (either anywhere on the map or within a radius)
- Swap: swap the position of two units
- Are there any existing abilities that lower/boost elemental resistances? I'm thinking nul-fire/ice/etc. or geomancy as an active ability instead of a passive one
- Something else fun would be to swap a unit's weapon/magick values for a few turns
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Marche on March 09, 2017, 03:34:48 pm
Quote from: chocolatemoose on February 28, 2017, 11:06:17 pm
Is it wrong that I check this thread almost every day for updates? Probably, but there are worse habits to have.

I had a couple other ideas for abilities:

- You could do a reverse quicken: delay a unit's turn until right before its following turn
- Teleport: warp another unit (either anywhere on the map or within a radius)
- Swap: swap the position of two units
- Are there any existing abilities that lower/boost elemental resistances? I'm thinking nul-fire/ice/etc. or geomancy as an active ability instead of a passive one
- Something else fun would be to swap a unit's weapon/magick values for a few turns


me too but dont hope too much for an update any time soon I've been lurking in this thread for a year now.. haha
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on March 09, 2017, 05:20:28 pm
hey kid, there's this magical thing called jobs

and eternal has one
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on March 20, 2017, 08:58:44 pm
Hey guys, you needn't fret. I'm constantly coming up with new and fun job ideas and the like but, as Bonesy explained, it's been hard for me to work on -any- mod lately. I recently got promoted to a new position at work that takes a lot of my free time (and energy- it's hard to come home from a long day at work and want to mod). That said, I've also hit a bit of a drought with my creativity, and I refuse to release anything that doesn't come from my heart. I did that ages ago and learned the hard way that it's just not a good idea. The cool thing about A2 is that it has a ton of room for creative things. I'd like to release a new update sometime soon with the things I've talked about, but the reality is I'm just not -sold- on certain things, and I want everything to be perfect because, ultimately, when I release things like this, I want to commit to them and not change them later.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on March 24, 2017, 02:42:30 pm
Quote from: Bonesy on March 09, 2017, 05:20:28 pm
hey kid, there's this magical thing called jobs


Like the thing that affects which skills you can learn and what gear you can use?

Quote from: Bonesy on March 09, 2017, 05:20:28 pm
and eternal has one


He has lots :D

Quote from: Eternal on March 20, 2017, 08:58:44 pm
it's been hard for me to work on -any- mod lately.


Don't worry about it, good things are made slowly.  Thanks for your hard work, and hope your creativity returns!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Sekys on May 03, 2017, 12:14:03 pm
One thing I *really* don't like about not having doom and instant death skills (correct me if I'm wrong here, only like 15 hours deep into the hack so far) is that it literally makes several of the clan trials impossible, including the one where you have to kill multiple tonberries while doing <20 damage
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: DrBarber on May 03, 2017, 10:37:15 pm
Just got everything downloaded and patched, can't wait to play! I'll hopefully have helpful items to bring to your table. I got your mod for FFTA as well and am excited for that as well :) Keep up the good work! I'll come back with developments as I get to them :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Lenggao on July 27, 2017, 10:07:50 pm
Hey what's up, I was wondering if you could tell me how you edit and hack outside of using Lennart's tools, is it just windhex? I want to make minor tweets myself and it seems from reading most of the thread, that you're the most prominent content creator here. Sorry for the selfish request, it's not related to your work haha.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Lamorak on August 13, 2017, 10:43:50 am
Hi, been lurking for a while and started playing the current version a little while ago. Is this still being worked on? I notice it's been a few months since Eternal posted on this thread.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zaane on August 20, 2017, 10:19:44 am
Quote from: Lamorak on August 13, 2017, 10:43:50 am
Hi, been lurking for a while and started playing the current version a little while ago. Is this still being worked on? I notice it's been a few months since Eternal posted on this thread.

Cheers!

If you scroll up literally 5 posts Eternal explains whats going on, I assume that is still going on.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 22, 2017, 07:04:34 pm
You would be absolutely correct! Even moreso since now (unfortunately) there have been layoffs and I'm working even more to make up for the folks who aren't around. The cool thing is that I've been really inspired lately and have been jotting down lots of ideas for fun new things. That was partially why I stopped before- I just couldn't come up with any new ideas I enjoyed. I'm glad to see people are interested in A2 though- it gives me hope that even more tools and fun mods will continue to be developed. That said, feedback is still welcome, and I look forward to continuing on this when work returns to some semblance of normalcy. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on August 25, 2017, 12:17:09 am
If you're still in the market for ideas, I've been kicking around a few, but not sure if it's possible to implement with the out-of-the-box tools:

A couple for the ninja:
- Bunshin: create a level 1 ninja clone with no equipment and no abilities (replaces throw)
- Kage bunshin: halve character's level/stats and create a clone at the halved level that has the same equipment and abilities (replaces oblivion)

A couple others:
- Buff to increase range (passive)
- Buff to increase AoE (A-ability)

Also, on completely unrelated notes:
- How do you feel about giving many races/jobs inherent strengths and weaknesses? For example, you could make all Gria strong to wind and weak to lightning, then give a job like the Vartan an extra bump for wind (so immune to wind)
- I like what you've done with the Vartan and the idea of dedicating a class to an element. Seems like a ripe opportunity to rethink the black mage and specialize some of the elements around different classes
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on August 25, 2017, 04:36:36 pm
Quote from: chocolatemoose on August 25, 2017, 12:17:09 am
A couple for the ninja:
- Bunshin: create a level 1 ninja clone with no equipment and no abilities (replaces throw)
- Kage bunshin: halve character's level/stats and create a clone at the halved level that has the same equipment and abilities (replaces oblivion)

A couple others:
- Buff to increase range (passive)
- Buff to increase AoE (A-ability)


These idea's seem cool, but i don't think it's possible to do abilities that spawn an object onto the field besides the Monster's "Summon" ability which doesn't work for player use. (There's nothing in the game that can halve a unit's levels/stats, only one that can raise a unit's levels/stats permanently...) And no if you're thinking of the Duel-horn Ninja boss, the enemy battle formation data for his fight has him with multiple clones of himself set within the enemy slots to make it seem like their clones when they're just enemy ninja's with his name and default set abilities.

For the Passive ability it's also unlikely to add or remove passive abilities that are hard implemented into the game(Which i've also tried to do so in a in experiment for my mod and it didn't work.)

To be honest, i want to see if these can actually be implemented to give us a good view on more options to mod the game with, and more unique ideas that can happen since FFTA2 modding is limited to an extent.  :|
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: 4Strings on August 25, 2017, 05:42:25 pm
You have to admit, though, that giving some races certain inherent elemental affinities (at least as far as resistances/weaknesses) could make some sense and is doable even with the existing tools.
So resistance to air for Grias, weakness to water for Nu Mou/Moogles (fits with their inability to enter water), earth resistance to Bangaa, etc.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on November 26, 2017, 10:30:06 pm
It's been a minute, but I'm working on this again. It'll be a bit, but I'm currently looking over everything (particularly Seeq) in an attempt to make things more interesting. Here's what I came up with for a Berserker revamp. It would need to be tested, of course, but this is the basic concept I have for it. Basically, the Berserker will be very similar to FFXI's Monk job. Essentially, instead of just Berserking yourself and hoping for the best, this revamped Berserker will be all about combos and crushing things to death. (Granted, if you just want to tenderize everything with Berserk, you're more than welcome to with the updated Scream ability). The cool thing is that this job would mesh well with the other physical jobs the Seeq has, making Reavers scarier and Vikings more viable.

Example Skillchain: use Compression to deal damage to the target and inflict Focus on the user, making their next attack hurt. From there, you can chain Impact (making it hurt quite a bit more), or if the enemy isn't going to die easily, chain Final Heaven next to heavily damage and debilitate it. If you just want to nuke something, you can go from Fragmentation (to damage and Oil the target, and make your next Attack command have extra AoE) to Attack if enemies are clumped together, or to Detonation to do tremendous damage to the Oil'd target.

It's still a concept I'm perfecting, but I like where it's going. What are your thoughts?

BERSERKER:

SCREAM         ->      SCREAM:         Bestows Berserk, Haste, Attack Up, and Accuracy Up to the user.               
HONE SENSES:      ->      COMPRESSION:      50% weapon damage to an adjacent target and Add: Focus on the user.
FURORE:         ->      IMPACT:         Deals two weapon strikes to the target with a chance to inflict Defense Down.
GROUND SHAKER:   ->      FINAL HEAVEN:      Deals tremendous Holy damage to an adjacent target and inflicts Blind and Berserk.
SMITE OF RAGE:   ->      FRAGMENTATION:   50% weapon damage to an adjacent target and Add: Oil with perfect accuracy, also grants Buckshot.
INNER CALM:      ->      DETONATION:      Deals Fire damage to an adjacent target with perfect accuracy, removes Oil.
HELM SMASH:      ->      TRANSFIX:      Draws an enemy closer to the target and inflicts Immobilize.
SMASH:         ->      DUEL:         Grants Counter, Evasion Up, and Critical Up to the user.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on November 29, 2017, 10:30:29 pm
Glad you're still working on this!

Some of the Berserker skills seem pretty intense and borderline OP. I can easily see using Scream and having another unit ping me for tiny damage to remove the Berserk debuff early on in a battle.

Does Final Heaven blind/berserk the target or the user?

With regard to Duel, is there a viable Seeq alternative R-ability to counter/blink counter? If not, is adding Counter superfluous?

The one gap I see behind the Fragmentation -> Detonation combo is that you're likely to have other party members take action in between the two Berserker moves, by which time it's not clear that a fire attack would still be super useful. Unless you ran multiple Berserkers.

EDIT: I'm down with the idea of using combos, but given the timing between single unit turns, what if instead of trying to let one job do all the work, you created synergies between two different jobs (different races, to force them onto different characters) for use? The only one I can kind of think of in vanilla is green mage/assassin tranq/last breath, which isn't the greatest, so I think there's room for improvement. If for example, you took the vanilla scholar and had a job that did party-wide buffs (like null-elementals), then you'd have a cross-job combo. Or, per one of my ideas below, if you had one job that used minor debuffs but another job that dealt big damage based on those debuffs, then you'd have another interesting combo.

I was also kicking around a few more ideas apropos of nothing in particular:
- Is it possible to structure A abilities based on specific status effects? I'm thinking a skillset similar to the Trickster's Traumatize, but based on specific statuses. Could do it based on user or target statuses to deal/heal damage or buff/debuff
- A slightly double-edged sword against mages would be to have an A ability that could MP turbo them. Basically to buy a turn or two in return for potentially higher damage coming your way later (of course now I forget if GG starts with full MP or gains it like vanilla)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on December 01, 2017, 11:08:10 pm
Quote from: Eternal on November 26, 2017, 10:30:06 pm
HELM SMASH:      ->      TRANSFIX:      Draws an enemy closer to the target and inflicts Immobilize.


I have the draws an enemy closer function in my mod, and it tends to break a lot of the boss fights especially the ones that aren't supposed to be able to move, so you should try to test that out extensively, and it's good to see you back at it again.  :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on December 09, 2017, 08:57:33 pm
Glad to hear you're working on this again eternal!

Liking the idea of revamping berserker.  Just a heads up i don't now if buckshot works with melee (i now barrage doesn't, although target does funny enough).

Does detonation work on only if the target is oiled? pretty awesome if it does, and I would wonder if this works similarly for other debuffs etc.

Thanks for your hard work!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on December 12, 2017, 09:26:45 pm
Thanks! I actually scrapped this idea a little bit ago because I felt it was too gimmicky and not solid enough. I also came up with this idea recently after playing FFXIV and being inspired by the White Mage's Rescue ability.

Introducing the War Medic. Replacing the Berserker, the War Medic gives Seeq a healing job that can still dole out the pain. Similar to the Moogle Hero but with less emphasis on magic and defense, the War Medic is all about getting up close to the enemy and pummeling them to death, all while being able to rescue allies in need and heal them when they need it most. Combat Clinic, Maim and Mend, Blast Wave, and Sinew are all based on Physical attack, meaning they can be boosted by Sinew (for a large, temporary boost next turn), or by Doc's Code (which grants a smaller, permanent Attack Up which can also stack with Sinew). Doc's Code allows the user to buff up and get close to the target, or run away if the situation calls for it. Berserkers will likely have reduced HP from their current pool, to make them a little less tanky.

Thoughts?

SCREAM         ->            RESCUE
Draws an ally towards the user and bestows Regen.

HONE SENSES      ->            SANCTUARY
Removes all debuffs from surrounding units.

FURORE         ->            LURE
Draws an enemy towards the user and reduces its Defense.

GROUND SHAKER   ->            COMBAT CLINIC
Restores a large amount of HP to a unit close to the user.

SMITE OF RAGE      ->            MAIM AND MEND
Damages adjacent enemies and heals adjacent allies.

INNER CALM      ->            BLAST WAVE
Deals physical damage to units in a line and knocks them back.

HELM SMASH      ->            DOC'S CODE
Makes the user invincible until their next turn and bestows Attack Up.

SMASH         ->            SINEW
Damages an adjacent enemy and bestows Focus on the user, increasing their next physical attack damage as well as Combat Clinic and Maim and Mend.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on December 17, 2017, 02:17:14 pm
The War Medic looks like a cool job. Thematically its abilities are cohesive. I prefer it to your last iteration of the Berserker.

The one ability I'm not sure fits is Blast Wave. Doc's Code also might be a little OP (although if it's done in the same way as the Raptor's Bulwark, the unit would still be vulnerable to status effects).
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on December 18, 2017, 02:54:52 am
The concept for War Medic sounds interesting i can't wait to see it in action, Good work.

Quote from: Eternal on December 12, 2017, 09:26:45 pm
FURORE         ->            LURE
Draws an enemy towards the user and reduces its Defense.


I still suggest not doing this as a particular ability use from what i previously posted:

Quote from: Zeke_Aileron on December 01, 2017, 11:08:10 pm
I have the draws an enemy closer function in my mod, and it tends to break a lot of the boss fights especially the ones that aren't supposed to be able to move, so you should try to test that out extensively, and it's good to see you back at it again.  :)


The concept of pulling enemies towards you sounded like an awesome idea on paper, but in the game since Bosses are considered enemies they count towards this and "Draws an enemy closer" doesn't have any kind of resistance similar to Knockback, the only reason why i'm suggesting not to do this is simply because you have to purposely do this action against a boss, and as a "Player" we get curious if a certain action can do this to said enemy, which is also the reason why Knockback doesn't work on Bosses cause they're primarily placed in a spot where they can't be knocked back.

Here's some screenshot proof that the user Stormlag has given me just to show you as an example:
(https://i.imgur.com/G4vV285.png)(https://i.imgur.com/2VmRTWf.png)(https://i.imgur.com/VaTSicy.png)(https://i.imgur.com/Sl8z9Do.png)


I did went ahead and do this as well to see if it was actually doing that, which it did and you can also target them in the new spot as well, so i'm currently changing that and other stuff for my mod as well.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Baron Samedi on December 25, 2017, 08:05:56 pm
I'm absolutely delighted to see that you're continuing work on this hack. When I first stumbled onto this site a few months back, I played the 0.7 release of this and was blown away by the creativity on display, which inspired me to start work on my own hack using FFTA2 GG as a rom base due to how much I loved the new jobs you've implemented. Three months later I have a 30 page and counting design doc written for my hack (I won't be releasing it publicly so don't worry about me stealing your work!)

Now that you're back, I'd love to give you my feedback on the hack from what I've played:

Hume:

Soldier: Still a fairly uninteresting job, but much more practical thanks to the changes to the break skills. MP Gift doesn't really fit the skillset thematically, but it is very practical so I can't complain

Black Mage: The damage buffs to their spells are very welcome, and I love that the different elements have different quirks to make the job feel more varied. That being said, BM suffers from a lack of variety overall; realistically they only have three spells, since the upgrades are exactly the same with increased damage.   I would recommend removing one tier of spells and replacing them with utility spells; for example, in my hack, I made the tier 1 spells moderate damage in a small AoE, the tier 3 spells heavy damage to a single target, and replaced the tier 2 spells with Toad, an MP drain spell and a spell that randomly teleports IN a small AoE to break up enemy formations. This makes every mastered skill feel like an actual addition, rather than a slight numbers tweak to the stuff you already have.

White Mage: Not much to say here, the new spells are greatly appreciated and practical. Again, I would replace one tier of Cure with something else, we really don't need 3 separate healing spells.

Thief: Steal HP and MP are great, and make the class much better, but I don't see much use in stealing in this game. I mean, stealing accessories is useful for things like ninja tabi and orbs of minwu, but does anyone honestly care about stealing level 1 or 2 loot that you'll be drowning in by 10 hours in? Likewise, mug gil becomes 100% irrelevant a few hours in, so why not have something like steal evasion (reduce enemy evasion to 0, increase user's evasion on hit) or steal resilience (same concept as the last)? Those would actually remain useful throughout the game.

Archer: Not the flashiest job, but effective at what it's meant for. I especially love cover fire, as it allows them to actually have a solid damage output in addition to their debuffs.

Paladin: Not substantially different from vanilla, but remains an effective tank, and some of the slightly revised skills are better than vanilla like taunt and holy strike

Fighter: Grapple is a brilliant skill, and makes the job feel more worthwhile. I'd recommend changing Air Blast to something different as well, to really capitalize on the two unique skills they have.

Samurai: I don't have much to add here aside from what others have said, that the skills need to be made physical instead of magickal, and maybe have some more varied AoEs than just surrounding tiles.

Ninja: I like the FFT Geomancer feel the skills have, combined with the raw damage output of dual wield they make an effective hybrid of damaging and debuffing units. As unique as the skill is though, why is Throw still in the skill set? I mean, does anyone ever actually use it? You either waste a valuable item for one powerful attack or use a crappy item for an underwhelming attack. In sure you could think up a better replacement.

Necromancer: Fantastic job against undead but as others have mentioned, there's not much reason to use them for 85+% of the game. I got around this in my hack by giving their skills two separate effects; one powerful effect that only hits undead, and another weaker but still useful effect that only hits non undead. That way the necro keeps their role as anti-undead specialist while still being fairly useful in other battles.

Blue Mage: Not much to say, still as awesome a support job as ever.

Hunter: Reminds me a lot of the necromancer in that they're a specialist job against monsters. Thankfully they don't suffer the same lack of usefulness against human opponents, so a great ranged job overall.

Seer: About the same as vanilla, glad to see magick frenzy only works on their spells for balance's sake.

Warrior: Almost the same as Soldiers, although Greased Lightning and Body Slam could use more interesting replacements.

Monk: Definitely a no frills job, but easily one of the most reliable backup skillsets in the game so no complaints here.

Dragoon: I would recommend giving the breath abilities different AoEs to make them feel different, and giving Jump a different effect. It's just not worth taking a 40-50% chance at double damage when you could just hit them twice normally. If anything I would give it normal damage and accuracy, but gives the user attack+ and critical+ on hit. Also, I feel that Dragoons should be given a higher inherent jump stay to reflect their gimmick, maybe 6 or even 8.

Myrmidon: Well...I hate to be negative, but this is easily the worst new job in the hack. Even if you did edit enemy formations to give them better gear, equipment breaking just wouldn't make that much of a difference in the battle aside from maybe weapon breaking. And why do there need to be four separate skills for breaking instead of consolidating them into one or two and having more varied skills in their place? Not only are breaking skills not practical, they're so, so BORING. I'd honestly scrap the whole job and replace it with a new concept that maybe keeps 1 or 2 skills related to gear breaking.

Gladiator: Not much you can do here sadly due to their shared skills, but I would recommend changing Ultima Blade to something else. I went with 1x physical damage to all enemies in my hack, as the other few 'all enemies' attacks were magick based, so that gave Gladiator something unique.

Oracle: Like others have said, at least a couple of the debuff skills should do damage, but a solid job all things considered. I like the idea of a debuff class that can still hit things hard and has a high evasion.

Bishop: I like the changes to pilfer and Aero, I don't know what else could really be done with the job.

Templar: Works very well as an anti mage hybrid unit, much more effective here than in vanilla now that MP damage actually matters.

Cannoneer: Desperately needs an overhaul and new job concept, one of the most boring and forgettable jobs in the game. Maybe make its skills do different types of magickal damage, as all other ranged units in the game do physical damage. That would at least make it feel unique and special.

Trickster: One of my favorite jobs in vanilla, not much changed here and not much needed to. Extremely versatile, capable of long range damage and close range debuffs, can't complain.

Nu Mou:

Time Mage: About the same as they always were, very useful. Demi and Comet are very welcome additions to make them more versatile, and their inherent teleport movement is a very nice touch.

Druid: Hands down my favorite new job you've created. Geomancers in vanilla were useless since they only had access to 2 or 3 skills in any given battle, while beastmasters in vanilla were the definition of wasted potential because of their 21 redundant skills. You took the worst aspects of two of the worst jobs and made something great out of them, A+ stuff all around.

Alchemist: Very similar to vanilla, but its always been a solid jack of all trades mage skillset so don't fix what ain't broken. Love the large AoE on Protometeor and Poison as well. Transmute should be changed to something new though, it's an entirely useless gimmick no one would ever use.

Daemon: Another brilliant re-use of a terrible mechanic from vanilla (flintlock prime). I also love that you've taken the skill set from Altima, as it's always fun to be able to use overpowered boss skills as the player in any RPG.

Sage: One of my favorite jobs in vanilla, no real reason to change things here. I do like the change to Gigaflare as one of the few target all enemies spells left in the hack.

Scholar: Very underappreciated job based on what others are saying. Having a dedicated buffing unit can have a major impact on the battle, and it does its job very well. Honestly, I hate that you got rid of teleport and vigilance for faith and brave, the originals were much more creative and practical. Maybe if faith and brave had a secondary effect they would be worth it but as it is now they remain completely unused by me and feel like a waste of a turn.

Moogle:

Animist: No comment as they don't seem to have been changed much if at all from vanilla.

Moogle Hero: I love how they're almost reverse paladins that focus on magick over blade. Their skillset is fun to use and had a surprising amount of utility.

Fusiler: Basically a worse version of vanilla fusilers without their overpowered vanilla skills, not worth using imo. I'd suggest them being replaced with a new job concept.

Corsair: Very fun gimmick, I love the dualcasting ability, even ignoring using it for black or time magick. Being able to give a unit two random buffs or debuffs in one turn is a fun way to do a luck based job, and coin toss is much less frustrating than the tinker ever was.

Orator: As your primary job, very bland, but makes for an excellent backup skillset to support a more interesting job. Still leagues better than tinker, so I'm happy with it, not all jobs need to be the...

Engineer: Such an awesome concept, and a fantastic execution besides. Every skill feels useful, and you picked the right animations to make them a delight to use.

Chocobo Knight: Still as useless as ever, but it's not like you had much to work with here. At least you were able to make them the designated stay optimization job, so they at least have SOME purpose now.

Viera:

Fencer: THE definition of a meh job. Better than vanilla sure, but...that's about it. I can't say it's a BAD job, but by god is its skillset dryer and blander than last year's fruitcake. I like the focus on nullifying reaction abilities, but there just aren't any skills that stand out and make me go 'damn, I really want this class on my team!' like most of the others. The only skill that is the least bit interesting, Retreat, doesn't even work properly. No matter how many times I use it, my fencer refuses to teleport away, so you might want to look into why that is. I looked it up in the ability editor and it seems like it should work, so I don't know what's wrong with it.

Green Mage: Awkward and borderline useless in vanilla (sleep and tranq aside), and even worse here due to the lack of sleep. One of the jobs that needs an overhaul, if you're going to have a job focused around buffs and debuffs, it should have a better choice of both. I mean, oil? Really? And why bother with protect and shell when white mages, bishops AND scholars can give those out with one skill? I know GM give them in a large AoE, but still nothing worthwhile. Why not a skill that gives evasion+ in a small AoE or a skill that reduces resilience in an AoE? Way more practical if you ask me.

Occultist: One of the best new jobs imo. I never would have thought that blood magick would work in FFTA2's engine. Possess is incredible, although I feel it shouldn't be free, it should cost either 10 or 20% max HP for how potent it is. The other skills are fun as well, but I feel there are already too many 'sacrifice user to revive teammate' skills in the hack, so Offering should be something else.

Red Mage: Still very useful, but not overpowered anymore; not much else you could have done due to spell dependencies.

Summoner: The damaging spells are fine, but the other spells are boring and could use some new effects. Maybe make one random debuff 1 in a large AoE, or certain stats down in the AoE.

Kunoichi: Fantastic idea for a job, I love high risk, high reward classes in games. The skillset is exactly what it needs to be, and in practical terms is very similar to its vanilla counterpart just more fun to use.

Sniper: Solid job, nothing too exciting but I love Eagle Shot. I'm not a fan of the spike trap skill for reasons I'll explain in the Ranger section, however.

Spellblade: Great revision of the original, only suggestion I would give is to make more of the skills cost MP, as she is a SPELLblade after all.

Seeq:

Berserker: nothing to say, however I definitely like the idea of the War Medic. I especially like the idea of Rescue, as I've been toying with the idea of a teamwork oriented use for the draw in effect myself.

Ranger: Half the ranger's skills I think are great. The trap skills I hate though, although it's the same issue in vanilla. The problem with traps in this game is that the AI will almost never step on them unless you deliberately put one behind you and turn your back to the enemy. Some might call this strategy, I call it an exploit; it doesn't feel organic at all as a human opponent would never fall for this, and feels like you're cheating the system instead of using strategy. It doesn't help that only the needle trap and charm trap are worth using. I'd much prefer four skills that emphasize thr survival aspect of the ranger.

Reaver: Easily the best seeq job, they really nail the dark knight feel. The only suggestion I'd make is to make dawn and duskblade holy and dark elemental, it seems strange that they're non elemental given their names.

Viking: You already know how I feel about stealing skills, so I'll cut to the chase and say that the standing in water restriction needs to be removed from Tsunami as only a tiny number of maps even have water, making it useless otherwise.

Gria:

Vartan: Arguably the best of the hybrid jobs in the hack, has a great balance of magick and melee. If you'd told me that a job with both magick frenzy AND dualcast could be fun without being OP I wouldn't believe it, but I think you've pulled it off.

Ravager: Didn't seem any different from vanilla so I didn't try it out, I do like the idea for the Ravager you posted several pages back about attacks that drain the enemy's stats.

Gourmand: A completely ridiculous concept for a class, but I feel like it fits the game's silly time perfectly. Cooking is one of the most interesting skills in the hack, and its other skills are fun to use as well. No complaints, great job on this one.

Special Jobs:

Dancer and Bard: I love how you made them similar to their FFT counterparts, however I think they might be a bit overpowered. Just a bit mind, and mostly the dancer, as any job that can give all enemies a debuff is a force to be reckoned with. I hesistate to suggest that you nerf them however, since I feel that unique jobs SHOULD be slightly overpowered to make up for the fact that you can't boot their users from their clan so...I guess keep them as is.

Monsters:

I've seen several people in the thread complain that the monsters are too hard in the early game due both to their high stats and the fact that monsters have access to all of their skills even in the beginning when your units have almost none. After a lot of deliberation, I believe I've come to a two pronged solution.

First, I would make the monsters have very very low BASE stats, but have high stat GROWTHS to compensate. This will ensure they will be manageable in the early game while remaining a challenge in the late game once their stats have skyrocketed.

Second, I would make almost all monster skills cost MP to use. This would mean they either wouldn't be able to use their more powerful skills on early game players at all or only once or twice per battle, as opposed to say, the lamia in the mystery of the well quest that will without fail spam Night every single turn making the mission nigh unwinnable. At higher levels they would have plenty of MP to use their powerful skills on your powerful units, so I feel the balance would be retained. Besides, why should monsters have access to insanely powerful skills for free, when the player has to constantly worry about MP management?

Sorry for the giant wall of text, I just wanted to make sure I covered everything. Looking forward to the next release of GG, and I hope you don't get burnt out by the long process its been so far!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on December 26, 2017, 06:03:15 pm
Hey guys, thanks for your responses! I'll (hopefully) address everything in this post, so if I miss something, feel free to slap me with a trout and call me on it, haha.

@Chocolatemoose:

Yeah, I wasn't feeling that previous form of Berserker either. It felt very non-organic, and I want my jobs to feel organic and smooth, even if they end up being a little unbalanced (since that can always be fixed later). War Medic should feel far more natural and mesh well with other units, hopefully giving Seeq a little more love. Doc's Code would indeed work similarly to Bulwark, and Blast Wave is kind of a filler skill for now. I ultimately want them to have an AoE skill that can knock multiple units away so that they can get closer to their allies.

On the topic of Seeq, I'm trying to come up with a new job to replace them. The tricky part is that I only have four skills to work with, since Thunder/Thundara/Thundaga/War Cry are being used by other jobs. My current thought was a Red Mage-like job, using both Thunder and Water magicks, while being able to hit hard with their axes. I haven't settled on a concept yet though, and Viking is an interesting enough job to warrant having a truly fleshed-out concept.


@Zeke:

Terrible as I know this may sound, I'm aware that it may cause a glitch, but frankly, it's a cool enough effect that I don't mind. There are bound to be some smaller issues given how much I'm changing everything, and it's not game breaking, so I'm willing to tolerate it.


@Baron Samedi:

I'm glad that I was able to inspire you! I'm eager to see your finished work, and please, if you see an idea you like feel free to use it! As a community (especially one as small as A2's modding scene), it's important that we share and work off of each others' work. That's how improvement happens!

Allow me to address each of your points individually, and then I'll give everyone an update on where things fall idea wise as of right now.

Solder: Soldiers aren't meant to be particularly interesting, since they're much akin to FFT's Squire and Knight jobs. MP Gift was mostly designed as a way to help mages early-game and for non-mage jobs with their MP woes.

Black Mage: I've been playing a lot of FFXIV lately, which is where a lot of my inspiration has come from. I agree that the Black Mage's spells all feel very same-y, and I've been wanting to change them up for a while now. Here's where the challenge stands: I still want FFTA2 GG to feel like a FF game. Removing -ra and -ga spells feels counter to that. I think what may end up happening with Black Mage is that -ra and -ga spells remain, but have slightly different effects. For example, Blizzara might deal damage to a single target with a chance of Immobilizing it. Or Fira might deal damage in a small area with a chance to inflict Oil. Something like that. The other thing to keep in mind is that many monsters use -ra and -ga spells, meaning I have to keep their styles in mind as well (namely for Flans). That's why Black Mage is a little tricky to work with.

White Mage: Much like with the Black Mage, I agree (though I'd argue White Mage doesn't suffer quite as much for it). If Cure/Cura/Curaga did change, I'd probably make a normal healing AoE spell, a large AoE, small healing spell, and a single target large healing spell that bestowed Regen. Still, that would be a later update.

Thief: Thief has been a job I've been making one rehaul to after another throughout the years it feels like. I agree that some of their skills are somewhat boring, and I like the Steal Evasion idea. Realistically, I would likely keep Mug (since it basically replaces Attack- it's free, does the same thing as Attack, and steals Gil in addition to the damage), Change Loot I to Steal Evasion (or some semblance thereof), and turn Loot II into something like Steal Speed. The reason I hesitate on that though is because they're still Thieves- stealing things is their gig. Granted, it is canon. In Revenant Wings, Vaan could steal enemy stats.

Fighter: Please see below. I'm planning a few changes with Fighter, and Air Blast is chief among those changes.

Samurai: Samurai has always been meant to be a close-and-personal job, so I'm mostly fine with their skill ranges at the moment. As for damage output, I agree that it's been something that has been very tricky to get just right. I think what may end up happening is that they'll either deal physical damage (which might be the best option, since it'll give people some much needed physical abilities), or it'll continue dealing magical damage, but will ignore the enemy's Resistance. I haven't decided which I quite prefer yet, so that may need some experimenting.

Ninja: Ninja may actually be getting a complete rehaul soon, see below. That being said, Throw will almost always be a guaranteed keep on Ninja, mostly to reference FFT. Maybe if I play around with it enough I can make Grenades into Throw-only weapons.

Necromancer: I can definitely see where people are coming from with the criticism of Necromancer. Fun fact- the initial idea with Necromancer was almost exactly what you described. Potent effects on Undead units, a slightly lesser effect on living units. The challenge is that I simply don't have description line space enough to inform the player of what those secondary effects would be. Something I learned from FFTA GG is that correct descriptions are paramount, and I don't want to sacrifice that. That being said, 4/8 of the skills can be used in any fight, regardless of if there's Undead or not. I would argue that this is just a case of using it when Undead are around and perhaps not using it when there aren't, but Tainted Love and Brainrot are pretty useful all around.

Warrior: Body Slam will likely remain, but I'm planning on possibly retooling Greased Lightning, please see below for more details.

Dragoons: Ah, Dragoons. FFTA/A2 hasn't been kind to you. Dragoons have been on my to-do list for years, but I literally haven't been able to come up with something that'll do them justice. Jump (their stat and the skill) will likely be buffed, with Jump having increased range (but dealing less damage). Each of the Breath attacks will have a different effect, etc. Please see below for more details!

Myrmidon: It's okay! I completely agree! Myrmidon is on the list to be completely revamped. I realized I got a little carried away with the breaking abilities and I instead want to make the Myrmidon into a new job, which will focus on the use of Shields for defense and offense. Please see below for more details! (My apologies that I keep on saying that, but Bangaa are getting a desperately needed overhaul, haha.)

Gladiator: Ultima Blade is likely going to become Llednar's Alpha, which will deal heavy damage to an adjacent target, but we'll see. There were going to be some other small changes to their skills, such as making their three elemental abilities become physical skills that also buff the user- effectively making them stronger the more blood they draw from the target.

Oracle: Oracles may be getting a Future Sight-like attack (think Pokemon- the user attacks, and the damage hits the target a little later- Cannoneers have this right now, but this would be a magical/AoE variant), but I would need to test it first.

Bishop: Bishops are going to be slightly retooled as well. Break will be becoming a powerful AoE Earth spell with a chance to inflict Immobilize (to give them something later on with Holy as well as a rare Earth option), and Pilfer will likely become Renew, to fully restore a single target's HP. This would give them a slightly better magical skillset to pair with Oracle, Templar, or Trickster.

Templars: Templars are also getting a few new tricks (geez, I didn't realize until now how many Bangaa changes were coming down the pipeline). Namely, they're going to be better at protecting themselves against magicks, will have some bloat cut (I'm looking at you, Rasp and Soul Sphere), and just become a little more interesting.

Cannoneer: I respectfully disagree with you about Cannoneer. As for there being no real magical ranged jobs, just about any mage in the world has ranged magical options, haha. I like their gimmicks, and I think Vanilla A2 did a pretty cool job with them.

Alchemist/Sage: I'm coupling these two together because, frankly, I hate them both. I don't hate their jobs necessarily, but I hate how they're basically two halves of one whole. Ideally, Sage should be the ultimate magic job, which is why they have Ultima. But then you have Alchemist, with Item innate (which I wholeheartedly agree with), who can use Flare, Meteor, etc. Those kinds of high-end spells should be better suited to Sages. The only reason Transmute has stuck around as long as it has is because I like the concept, and it's one of the few things that make Alchemists feel like Alchemists. I'm admittedly not sure what to do about them, but it's been vexing me for some time.

Scholar: I liked Vigilance and Teleport as well, but sadly, they broke the game in one way or another. Bravery and Faith are Ivalice staples though, and are great to use if you have nothing else to do (namely at the start of battle).

Animst: Oh boy, Animist. Another job that's been on the chopping block for some time. See below (again, lol).

Fusilier: With the changes to Myrmidon, I think I like where Fusilier stands right now. I promise it'll be more worth it when I can edit enemy formations!

Corsair: So, stupid me forgot to give them the ability to use Guns. That'll be changing next update.

Chocobo Knight: This will probably be revamped, so each Chocobo Knight will be far more specialized based on the Chocobo being ridden. Like you said, not too much to be done about this, but I'll certainly tinker with it.

Fencer: Fencers are getting a minor buff next update, with Shadowstick dealing damage with a chance of Slow. I'll have to look into Retreat though. It's been a minute, but I swear that worked for me when I was testing it.

Green Mage: Green Mages are going to be getting a buff, but if anything it'll be more of a stat buff. The struggle is that literally all of their skills are also used by other things, so changing them too much becomes chaotic. They'll likely end up having a higher ATK and DEF to make them more battlemage-y (is that a word?) and allow them to better enter the front lines and smash skulls.

Occultist: Another fun fact- Possess was originally supposed to consume 20% of the user's HP to control a target. Due to how the game uses Control, it ignores any other effects tied to a skill, so Possess has to be free by nature of it being Control. As for Offering, it's on my to-buff list. It'll likely end up costing a percentage of maximum HP instead of all HP.

Summoner: Summons are boring, but effective. You won't find any large AoE source of Regen or Reflect, or healing and debuff removing at the same time. I'm pretty happy with them how they are... and if you want flashy summon effects, I'd advise seeing what I have planned below.

Spellblade: No need to worry, more MP costs are being added to Spellblade, so that's already taken care of!

Ranger: Fun fact time (yet again). I originally wanted Rangers to be able to set traps in an AoE. Unfortunately (likely due to memory limits), the game only allows you to set one at a time. Truthfully, I'm enamored with Traps. The fact that you could set them in A2 (unlike FFT), blew me away when I was younger. I increased their Range in a prior update to allow you to set them at more suitable chokepoints, but I agree that they're still somewhat underwhelming. That said, they'll be staying until I can find some way to upgrade them.

Reaver: Dawnblade will probably become Shadowblade, since that's what it was in FFT: WotL. I made this job ages ago, so I must not have noticed it. They'll both be becoming Dark Elemental. Not sure how I missed that all this time, haha.

Viking: Ugh, Viking. Please see above. Tsunami is definitely getting a buff of some sort though, if it lasts.

Ravager: Ravagers actually were changed, in a way similar to the Daemon. Ravagers require the user to be Prime'd, but for them to be afflicted with Prime, they need to wait three turns and survive that long. If they do, they become Prime'd and have access to powerful physical blows. Unlike Daemon however, the Prime buff doesn't wear off upon using an attack. Therefore, they're mighty glaciers. Slow and powerful, but they can be struck down easily, and they have to re-Prime upon being revived.

Dancer: Dancer will likely be nerfed ever so slightly, but it's not a huge mark on my to-do list yet.

Monsters: I like your idea in regards to this, and I'd be interested in crunching numbers with you. Numbers (MP in particular) is a tough spot of mine, so any help would be appreciated!

@Everyone:

Okay, so I've been working diligently, taking a magnifying glass to every single job and seeing what needs tweaked and what can stay. Here's what I came up with. Thoughts are of course always welcome.

Soldier:
-Rend MP would deal full MP damage to the target as well as HP damage. Previously, it only did 25% of that damage as MP.

Thief:
-Steal Gil will likely be renamed Mug, for clarity's sake.
-Loot will possibly become Steal SPD, which inflicts Slow on an adjacent target and bestows Haste on the user.
-Loot II will possibly become Steal EVD, which inflicts Evasion Down on an adjacent target and bestows Evasion Up on the user.

Archer:
-Leg Shot will deal full weapon damage. Previously, it only did 50% weapon damage. If the damage lands, it will also have a 100% chance of Rooting the target for a single turn.
-Blackout will deal full weapon damage. Previously, it only did 50% weapon damage.

Paladin:
-Parley is now Ward, which grants Invincibility and Astra to the user.
-Saint Cross now deals damage and Blinds enemies around the user.
-War Cry now inflicts Slow and Attack Down on surrounding enemies.

Fighter:
-Air Blast is now Reckoning, which debuffs the user and then deals damage based on the amount of debuffs the user has been afflicted with.

Samurai:
-Iaido abilities will now either deal physical damage, or will continue doing magical damage, but will ignore Resistance (undecided as of yet.)

Ninja:
-Ninja will be totally rehauled, focusing on increasing its Speed while nailing distant enemies with elemental magical effects until it gets close enough to kill.
1) Throw- same as Vanilla.
2) Huton- Bestows Haste on the user with a small chance to Quicken it.
3) Katon- Deals Fire damage in a small AoE with limited range, has a chance to inflict Oil.
4) Hyoton- Deals Ice damage to a single target and Roots it.
5) Raiton- Deals heavy Thunder damage to a single target.
6) Doton- Inflicts Blind and Poison to surrounding units with perfect accuracy.
7) Suiton- Deals Water damage to a single target and bestows Vanish on the user.
8) Fuuma- Deals 50% weapon damage to a distant target.

Hunter:
-Drill Shot now deals Defense-ignoring physical damage in a line in front of the user.

Warrior:
-Greased Lightning is now Omnislash, which deals two weapon strikes to a single target within range.
-Lifetap is now Mangle, which deals weapon damage to a single target with a chance to inflict Speed Down.

Dragoon:
-Jump now has 6 Range and deals 50% weapon damage with normal accuracy, no longer requires a Spear to use.
-Wyrmtamer is now Reis Wind, which bestows the user with Regen and Move Up.
-Fire Breath now has a chance to inflict Defense Down.
-Ice Breath now has a chance to inflict Immobilize.
-Thunder Breath now has a chance to inflict Slow.
-Bangaa Cry now knocks the targets back and inflicts Rooted rather than inflicting Defense Down.

Myrmidon:
-Myrmidon is now Warden, a job that focuses on balancing offense and defense with Shields, whose skills require a Shield to be used. I haven't decided on a skillset just yet, and I'd need to play around with their arsenal since they can currently only use two-handed weapons, but the basic idea is that they use Shields in an offensive capability, attacking and then immediately assuming a defensive stance.

Gladiator:
-Fire Soul is now Bloodlust, which deals damage to an adjacent enemy and bestows Focus on the user.
-Thunder Assault is now Rip and Tear, which deals damage to an adjacent enemy and bestows Attack Up on the user.
-Blizzard Tackle is now Juggulate, which deals damage to an adjacent enemy and bestows Critical Up on the user.
-Ultima Sword is now Omega, which deals 2x damage to an adjacent target.

Oracle:
-Hex now deals Dark damage and inflicts Resilience Down.
-Lubrication is now Omniscence, which deals magical damage to units in a small area next turn.

Bishop:
-Break now deals heavy Earth damage in a small AoE with a chance to inflict Immobilize.
-Pilfer is now Renew, which fully restores the target's HP.

Templar:
-Piercing Cry is now Crucible, which deals weapon damage to a target and removes all of its buffs.
-Discipline is now Aegis, which bestows Reflect, Shell, Resistance Up, and Resilience Up on the user.
-Soul Sphere is now Inquisition, which deals MP damage to surrounding units and inflicts Magick Down.
-Lifebreak is now Judgement, which deals weapon damage to a target and inflicts Silence with perfect accuracy.

Trickster:
-Mug is now Con, which attacks a target with a chance to delay its turn.

Daemon:
-Daemons move normally now, lose Innate: Teleport.
-Dark Holy deals slightly increased damage.

Fencer:
-Shadowstick now deals weapon damage with a chance to inflict Slow.

Green Mage:
-Green Mages gain increased HP, ATK, and DEF.

Occultist:
-Offering now decreases the user's HP by 90%, rather than outright killing it.

Spellblade:
-Paradigm Shift now costs 22 MP to use.
-Sanguinate now costs 24 MP to use.

Animist:
-Animist is now Evoker, which will use Summons similarly to Summoners, but their Summons will have dual effects depending on the targets. This functionality will need to be tested and I'll need to figure out descriptions, but basically, each Summon would have a different effect based on who's in the area when it's used. Each Summon would have a Light/Dark effect, based on if it hits an ally or the enemy. For example, Carbuncle may bestow Astra to allies caught in the AoE, whereas it may Dispel on enemies caught in the AoE.

Berserker:
-Berserker is now War Medic, with the changes planned as outlined above.

Reaver:
-Shadowblade is now Dark Elemental and consumes 18 MP.
-Duskblade is now Dark Elemental.

So yeah, that's what's on the horizon at some point in the near future. Any suggestions and feedback are welcomed as always, and I'm glad to see people are still interested in this little weird patch of mine, haha.

EDIT:

For people wondering what I have in mind for monster/special unit skills, they're more or less the same, except for some choice changes. Adelle in particular is proving to be a struggle for me, but I think I might make her skillset very high-risk, high-reward. Possibly revolving around a rotation of Astra/Reraise and having her skills be massively potent, but killing her in the process (as a way of showing that she's not used to her Heritor powers quite yet), but I'm undecided yet.

Vaan:

Trophy Hunt:         Deals weapon damage to the target and, if the attack kills the target, the user gains a piece of Lv. 4 Loot.
Shadow Stalk:         Bestows Vanish and Evasion Up on the user.
Salvage:            Disarms a trap adjacent to the user.
Life of Crime:         Damages an adjacent target with a chance to inflict Blind and Silence.
Steal:               Steals the target's items, Gil, or Loot.
Swipe:               Steals a large amount of Gil from the target.
Razor's Edge:         Bestows Accuracy Up and Critical Up on the user.
Flee:               Bestows Haste and Move Up on the user.

Penelo:

Mincing Minuet:         Deals a small amount of damage to all enemies.
Blade Dance:         Attacks an adjacent enemy twice in one attack.
Forbidden Dance:      Inflicts either Poison, Immobilize, Silence, or Blind on all enemies.
Slow Dance:            Inflicts Slow on all enemies.
Witch Hunt:            Deals a small amount of MP damage to all enemies.
Polka:               Inflicts either Attack Down or Defense Down on all enemies.
Heathen Frolic:         Inflicts either Magick Down or Resistance Down on all enemies.
Jitterbug:            Drains HP from a single unit up to four tiles away.

Hurdy:

Requiem:            Removes all fallen Undead units from battle and deals heavy damage to all remaining Undead.
Hide:               Bestows Vanish on the user.
Angelsong:            Restores a small amount of HP to all allies.
Battle Chant:         Bestows either Attack Up or Defense Up to all allies.
Magickal Refrain:      Bestows either Magick Up or Resistance Up to all allies.
Nameless Song:         Bestows either Protect, Shell, Reflect, or Regen to all allies.
Magick Ballad:         Restores a small amount of MP to all allies.
Soul Etude:            Removes most debuffs from all allies.

Adelle:

Wermut:               
Nesiaam:            
Lennart:            Deals damage in a wide line in front of the user.
Hilo:
Elpe:
Viola:               
Ljda:
Adelaide:            Bestows Quicken and Reraise to the user.

Al-Cid:

Escort:               Bestows Cover on a female unit from anywhere on the field.
Flourish:            Deals damage to a single target, damage is increased with more female allies.
Fawn:               Bestows Regen and Astra on a female unit.
Enchant:            Bestows Attack Up and Magick Up on a female ally, and Charm on a female foe.
Interrogate:         Reveals a foe's carried loot as well as all traps on the field.
Succor:               Restores HP and removes some debuffs from the user.
Impassion:            Bestows Berserk, Critical Up, Haste, and Reraise on a female unit.
Reckless Abandon:      Damages a target and inflicts Speed Down.

Illua:

Abyssal Slash:         Deals damage to units in a line and inflicts Defense Down, Resistance Down, and Resilience Down.
Time Blade:            Deals damage to an adjacent unit and inflicts Stop, Rooted, and Delay.
Saber:               Bestows Attack Up, Accuracy Up, Evasion Up, and Critical Up on the user.
Dimensional Rift:      Reduces the HP of units in a large AoE by 50% and may inflict Immobilize.
Annul:               Reduces the MP of a single target to 0.
Sheol:               Inflicts Slow and Speed Down on all enemies and Haste and Regen on all allies.
Rebirth:            Restores the user's HP by 25% and removes all debuffs.

Goblin:

Magick Hammer:         Deals MP damage to a target equal to half of its maximum HP.
Goblin Punch:         Deals damage to an adjacent target equal to the user's lost HP.
Mutilate:            Deals 50% damage to an adjacent target and restores the user's HP equal to the damage dealt.

Faerie:

White Wind:            Restores an ally's HP equal to the user's current HP.
Angel Whisper:         Restores an ally's HP and bestows Regen.
Meteorite:            Deals damage to a single target and inflicts Confuse.
Shine:               Deals Holy damage in a small AoE and inflicts Blind.
Fey Mischief:         Bestows Evasion Up to the user and adjacent allies.

Lamia:

Night:               Inflicts Sleep in a small AoE.
Poisonous Frog:         Inflicts Poison and Frog on a single target.
Kiss:               Inflicts Charm and Resilience Down on men and Confuse and Resilience Down on women.
Hand Slap:            Damages an adjacent target and inflicts Delay and Slow.
Twister:            Deals Wind damage to units in a large AoE.
Eternal Sleep:         Inflicts Sleep and Stop on a single target.
Eternal Oblivion:      Damages a single target with a chance to inflict Addle.

Wolves:

Screech:            Deals damage in a cone in front of the user with a chance to inflict Silence.
Summon Pack:         Summons allies to battle.
Fangs:               Deals damage to an adjacent target that ignores Defense and inflicts Poison.
Tackle:               Deals damage to a unit within three tiles and inflicts Rooted.
Acrobatics:            Deals damage to an adjacent target and bestows Haste on the user.
Sonic Fangs:         Deals damage to an adjacent target with a low chance to inflict Death.

Bunnies:

War Dance:            Bestows Attack Up on the user and adjacent allies.
Illude:               Inflicts Charm on a single target.
Go-Go Dance:         Bestows Haste on the user and adjacent allies.
Hip Attack:            Deals unavoidable damage to an adjacent target and may inflict Charm.

Werewolves:

Roar:               Removes all buffs from targets in a cone in front of the user.
Howl:               Bestows Attack Up and Critical Up on the user.
Slug:               Deals damage to an adjacent target that ignores Defense.
Assault:            Deals damage to an adjacent target with a chance to inflict Immobilize and bestows Focus on the user.

Antlions:

Sandstorm:            Deals Earth damage in a small AoE around the user with a chance to inflict Blind.
Gnaw:               Deals damage to an adjacent target and heals the user for the damage dealt.
Suffocate:            Inflicts Delay and Disable on an adjacent target.
Bile:               Deals damage to a target within three tiles and inflicts Defense Down.
Mucus:               Deals damage to a target within three tiles and inflicts Slow.
Saliva:               Deals damage to a target within three tiles and inflicts Speed Down.
Quicksand:            Deals damage to a target within four tiles, draws it close, and may inflict Rooted.

Adamantoises:

Limit Glove:         Deals damage to an adjacent target equal to lost HP.
Matra Magick:         Swaps a target's HP and MP.
Headbutt:            Deals damage to an adjacent target with a chance to inflict Addle.
Sonic Spin:            Deals damage to all adjacent targets with perfect accuracy.
Rain of Stone:         Deals Earth damage to units in a small AoE.
Munch:               Destroys the equipped weapon of an adjacent target.
Resonate:            Inflicts Disable on all units currently equipped with bladed weaponry.

Malboros:

Bad Breath:            Inflicts Poison, Blind, and Silence in a cone in front of the user.
Eerie Soundwave:      Inflicts Resilience Down on units around the user.
Goo:               Inflicts Immobilize on a single unit.
Malboro Song:         Bestows Regen and Accuracy Up on the user.
Putrid Breath:         Inflicts Frog, Confuse, and Disable in a cone in front of the user.
Purify:               Removes all debuffs from the user.
Honeyed Breath:         Inflicts Charm in a cone in front of the user.
Love Song:            Restores HP and bestows Defense Up on the user.
Cloying Breath:         Inflicts Slow, Sleep, and Immobilize in a cone in front of the user.

Alraunes:

Horn Blow:            Deals damage to an adjacent unit, knocks it back, and delays its turn.
Horn Drill:            Inflicts Death on an adjacent unit.            
Horn Shot:            Deals damage to a unit within four tiles.
Tomato Fang:         Deals damage to an adjacent unit and inflicts Attack Down.
Tomato Tackle:         Deals damage to an adjacent target with a small chance to Quicken the user.
Tomato Ketchup:         Inflicts Blind and Berserk on a unit within three tiles.

Cockatrices:

Stone Breath:         Deals damage in a cone in front of the user with a chance to inflict Petrify.
Fluster:            Bestows Attack Up and Resistance Up on the user.
Scurry:               Bestows Haste and Move Up on the user.
Peck:               Deals damage in a small line in front of the user with a chance to inflict Blind.
Scatter:            Bestows Evasion Up and Accuracy Up on the user.
Wake-Up Call:         Quickens an ally within six tiles.

Chocobos:

Choco Cure:            Restores HP to units around the user with a chance to bestow Regen.
Choco Esuna:         Cures all debuffs from units around the user.
Choco Ball:            Deals damage to a unit within four tiles.
Choco Meteor:         Deals damage to units in a small AoE.
Choco Beak:            Deals damage to an adjacent unit, ignoring Defense.
Choco Recharge:         Restores the MP of an adjacent unit.
Choco Guard:         Bestows Defense Up and Resistance Up on adjacent units.
Choco Barrier:         Bestows Protect and Shell on adjacent units.

Flans:

Unction:            Inflicts Oil on units in a large AoE.
Slime:               Inflicts Resistance Down and Magick Down on a target within four tiles.
Acid:               Inflicts two random debuffs on a target within four tiles.
Mambo:               Inflicts Berserk with perfect accuracy on surrounding enemies.
Syphon:               Drains MP from a target within four tiles.

Bombs:

Self-Destruct:         Damages surrounding units equal to the user's lost HP, kills the user, and inflicts Oil on damaged units.
Flame Attack:         Deals Fire damage to a target within four tiles with a chance to inflict Oil.
Spark:               Deals Fire damage to surrounding units while also healing the user.

Zombies:

Miasma:               Deals Dark damage to units in a small AoE, with a chance to Poison non-Undead units.
Drain Touch:         Deals damage to an adjacent unit and heals the user's HP equal to the damage dealt.

Ghosts:

Flash:               Inflicts Blind on all units looking at the user.
Sleep Touch:         Deals damage to an adjacent unit with a chance to inflict Sleep.
Silence Touch:         Deals MP damage to an adjacent unit with a chance to inflict Silence.
Wake the Dead:         Summons allies to battle.

Deathscythes:

Ague:               Inflicts Slow in a small AoE.
Steal Thoughts:         Deals damage to an adjacent unit and restores the unit's MP equal to the damage dealt, may inflict Addle.
Deep Sleep:            Inflicts Sleep and Slow on a single target.
Shackle:            Inflicts Immobilize and Disable on a single target.

Floating Eyes:

Vampire:            Deals damage to a target within three tiles and heals the user for the damage dealt.
Supersonic Wave:      Deals damage to a target within three tiles with a chance to inflict Confuse.
Death Dive:            Deals damage to a target within three tiles equal to the user's lost HP.
Fly:               Bestows Evasion Up and Move Up on the user.

Ahrimans:

Roulette:            Inflicts Death on a random ally or enemy.
Glare:               Inflicts Petrify with perfect accuracy on an adjacent unit looking at the user.
Demonic Gaze:         Deals HP and MP damage to a unit within four tiles that is looking at the user.
Binding Circle:         Inflicts Slow and Speed Down on a single target within four tiles.
Dread:               Deals damage to an adjacent target and inflicts Attack Down.
Bewitching Glance:      Draws in and inflicts Charm with perfect accuracy on a unit within four tiles looking at the user.

Tonberries:

Knife:               Reduces an adjacent unit's HP by 90%.
Karma:               Deals damage to an adjacent unit equal to the target's number of kills multiplied by ten.
Hide:               Bestows Vanish on the user.
Voodoo:               Reduces an adjacent unit's MP to 0.
Stalk:               Chooses a target to attack next.

Dullahans:

Quake:               Deals Earth damage to units in a large AoE.
Bone Shatter:         Deals damage to an adjacent unit with a chance to inflict Disable.
Brute Strength:         Bestows Attack Up and Focus on the user.
Tri-Attack:            Reduces the HP of an adjacent unit by 50% and inflicts Slow.
Helmsplitter:         Deals damage to an adjacent unit with a chance to destroy its equipped helmet.

Behemoths:

Heave:               Deals damage to an adjacent unit with a chance to inflict Death.
Stampede:            Deals damage to units in a line in front of the user.
Sunder:               Deals damage to surrounding units with a chance to inflict Defense Down.

Dragons:

Fireball:            Deals Fire damage to a unit within three tiles.
Ice Orb:            Deals Ice damage to a unit within three tiles.
Lightning:            Deals Thunder damage to a unit within three tiles.
Expose Weakness:      Inflicts Defense Down and Resistance Down on a unit within four tiles.
Mighty Guard:         Bestows Defense Up and Resistance Up on a unit within four tiles.
Dragon Force:         Bestows Attack Up and Magick Up on a unit within four tiles.
Wyrmweave:         Fully restores the HP of an HP Critical Dragon unit.
Aeon:            Bestows Quicken on an HP Critical Dragon unit.
Wyrmheart:         Bestows Reraise on an HP Critical Dragon unit.

Yowies:

Draw In:            Draws in a target from up to six tiles away, damages it, and heals the user for the damage dealt.
Stun Crush:         Deals damage to surrounding units and inflicts Slow.
Gravity Flux:         Deals damage to all enemies with a chance to inflict Immobilize.

Rafflesias:

Seed:            Summons allies to battle.
Nectar Volley:         Inflicts Poison, Slow, and Speed Down to units in a large AoE.
Vine Lash:            Deals damage to surrounding units with a chance to inflict Delay.
Blinding Cloud:         Deals damage to units around the user and inflicts Blind with perfect accuracy.
Soporific Cloud:      Deals damage to units around the user and inflicts Sleep.
Refreshing Pollen:      Bestows Regen on all allies.

Demon Walls:

Telega:            Teleports an ally directly in front of the user and inflicts Immobilize with perfect accuracy.
Repel:            Deals tremendous damage to a unit in front of the user.
Shining Darkness:      Inflicts Petrify on a single target within six tiles.
Gravija:            Reduces the HP of units in a large AoE to 1.

Crushatrices:

Fortify:            Bestows Defense Up, Resistance Up, and Resilience Up on the user.
Beak:            Deals damage to an adjacent target.
Devour:            Deals damage to units in a small AoE in front of the user.
Territorial Marking:   Deals damage to units in a small AoE and inflicts Defense Down.
Piston Drop:         Deals damage to all enemies.

Neukhia:

Grand Cross:         Deals heavy damage to units surrounding Shining Stones and inflicts three random debuffs.
Consumption:         Deals heavy damage to units in a large AoE.
White Hole:         Deals damage to units in front of the user and inflicts Petrify.
Syphonja:            Reduces the MP of units in a large AoE to 0.
Dispelja:            Removes buffs from all enemies and inflicts Resistance Down and Resilience Down.
Apocalypse:         Inflicts Frog on units in a large AoE.
Gigadust:            Deals damage to all enemies.
Catastrophe:         Inflicts Attack Down, Magick Down, and Confuse in a large AoE.
Punishing Ray:         Deals heavy damage to a single unit within six tiles and inflicts Stop with perfect accuracy.
Charge Ray:         Charges Neukhia Wisp.
Restoration Ray:      Restores a large amount of HP to the Neukhia Core and bestows Defense Up, Resistance Up, and Reraise.
Sanctify:            Inverts the HP and MP of all enemies.
Rewind:            Activates the Shining Stones.

Weapons:

Primary Weapon:      Reduces the HP of all units by 90%.
Secondary Weapon:      Deals tremendous damage to units in a large AoE.
Beguile:            Inflicts Charm and Speed Down on units in a large AoE.

Miscellaneous Enemies:

Dark:            Deals light Dark damage to units in a large AoE and may inflict Blind.
Darkra:            Deals moderate Dark damage to units in a small AoE and may inflict Sleep.
Darkga:            Deals heavy Dark damage to a single target and within four tiles and may inflict Death.
Invert:            Swaps the HP and MP of a unit within three tiles.

Esper Quickenings:

Belias:            Inflicts Oil on all foes with perfect accuracy.
Mateus:            Inflicts Rooted on all foes with perfect accuracy.
Shemhazai:         Fully restores the MP of all allies.
Hashmal:            Bestows Focus on all allies.
Famfrit:            Removes all debuffs from all allies and all buffs from all enemies.
Adrammelech:         Extends the buffs and debuffs of all units on the field.
Cuchulainn:         Inflicts Poison on all foes with perfect accuracy.
Zalera:            Inflicts Resilience Down on all foes with perfect accuracy.
Chaos:            Quickens all allies.
Zeromus:            Delays the turn of all foes with perfect accuracy.
Exodus:            Deals 25% HP and MP damage to all foes with perfect accuracy.
Ultima:            Fully restores the HP of all allies.
Zodiark:            Deals Dark damage to all foes with perfect accuracy.


Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Baron Samedi on December 27, 2017, 01:57:58 am
First off, I'd like to thank you for going to the trouble of reading through my wall of text and addressing my points individually. You make a good point in that you want the game to stay true to the series and feel like a FF game; I admit I was somewhat projecting my own goals and design philosophies onto my suggestions, which vary wildly from both the feel and series staples of the other FF games. I don't want to make this about my hack as this is your thread, so I'll spoiler my main design goals as not to distract from the focus of the thread, so feel free to skip over this if you're not interested.



My main idea for the hack is to be as experimental and creative as I possibly can and squeeze as many unique ideas as I can from the engine. This means overhauling every game system I can with my almost non-existent knowledge of hex editing. And I mean EVERY game system I can. My design goals in order from most important to least important:

1. Revise every. single. job. I've gone through each job in the game and either completely revamped them into a brand new concept (mind you, as I used GG as a base, this includes your brand new concepts like the necromancer and kunoichi as well for now) or given them a similar concept with at least a somewhat revised skill set. To this end, each and every job will be renamed to reflect the idea that they're all different from vanilla (minus the obvious impossibilities like chocobo knight, seer, red mage, fighter). I've done this in a variety of ways:

1a. New skills, and less redundant skills. As I mentioned for black mages, I hate how many outright redudndant skills exist in the game, so I've been replacing them whenever possible. Just last night I had the idea to overhaul BM a second time. Now instead of a small AoE tier 1 spell and powerful single target tier 3 spell per element with 3 utility spells replacing the tier 2 spells, I've replaced the two damaging spells for each element with more unique and fun spells. An example is thundaga's replacement, Lightningrod, which does heavy thunder damage in a large AoE around the caster at the cost of 0.5x lightning damage on self.

1b. Changing the inherent stats of jobs to achieve greater variety. Select jobs now have more varied move and jump stats to reflect their themes, and a couple have inherent float or teleport like what you did with the time mage. In addition, many jobs now have inherent resistances to certain elements that reflect their theme (e.g. viking taking 1/2 damage from thunder and water or vartan's absorbing wind). I feel this encourages greater strategic play by making the player really consider the elements of their skills instead of blindly throwing elemental effects around without care while also incentivizing the use of said jobs.

Another major change is the overhaul of the evasion system. I felt that one of the reasons people hate debuffs in A2 so much is because they are on average only 40-60% accurate, while you have a MINIMUM 85% chance to hit any job with a damaging skill (evasion gear excluded of course).

To this end, I've greatly increased the evasion curve, with the lowest evasion classes having a base 5% and the absolute highest one or two jobs capping at base 30%. This will nerf the extreme bias A2 has towards straight damage skills while indirectly buffing debuffs (that was fun to say, I'll admit).  Of course, the classes with 20%+ inherent evasion also have lower resilience to compensate, meaning some classes will be more vulnerable to damage, with others being more vulnerable to debuffs. Evasion gear will have to be nerfed slightly to prevent ridiculous dodge builds, but I feel this change will make the game far more diverse in terms of strategy and approach.

I've also slightly tweaked the resilience curve, but not to as extreme a degree; values now range from 25% to 80% with a more diverse distribution than vanilla.

2. Make every job viable, not only as a secondary skillset, but as a primary. I feel many jobs in A2 suffer from 'white monk syndrome' i.e. having a useful skillset, but not one you'd ever use as your primary. I mean, white monks are great and all, but why would I ever use them as my primary job when master monk is better in every way and I can still use white monk's skills as a secondary? My goal is to give the player a reason to want to use every single job as their main, and really struggle to decide which of their two chosen skillsets should be their primary and which should be their secondary. This will be accomplished through the aforementioned overhauled inherent stats. Some jobs are appealing because of their move/jump values or inherent teleport; others are appealing due to their elemental resistances, and yet others for their evasion or resilience.

3. Come up with as many experimental and fun job concepts as possible. Given the amount of massive overhauls to inherent stats, I'm under no illusion that this hack will be perfectly balanced regardless of how much playtesting I do. I'll certainly try my hardest to make things balanced, but at the end of the day I'm aiming for fun jobs above all else. A small sampling of the ideas I have:

Fusiler -> Commando: the commando is based around the idea of being a one-moogle army that lugs around an arsenal of different guns into battle, and his skills are meant to simulate various types of guns. One skill is going to basically be a shotgun, doing heavy fire damage in a cone in front of the user to simulate the spread of a shotgun, while another is going to be a plasma rifle that does damage and reduces a target's defense and resistance on hit to simulate the plasma burning through their armor. Inspired by Doomguy's arsenal from the classic Doom games.

Blue Mage -> Mimic: the mimic is based around the concept that blue mages are basically just trying to copy what they see monsters do, but being only human they end up having spells with similar, but different effects to what the monsters use. An example would be Dragon Force giving the target regen and focus, or Night doing dark damage in a small AoE that drains HP. Again, the idea is that the skills they learn are thematically similar to the originals, but with a different effect.

Soldier -> Scout: One of two units in the hack with 5 base move (5 jump as well!). They are meant to be a hybrid of traditional melee tanks and fast but fragile thief/rogue type jobs. They're faster than tanks, but deal less damage and are more fragile. Their high move and jump reflect their emphasis on mobility and positioning, and their three unique skills all revolve around this including a backstab skill and a skill to increase their already high move when they hit their target. The break skills have also been removed from them and the warrior replacement, and instead replaced with skills that feel more appropriate for professional soldiers (rallying and supporting their troops, increasing their own defense, etc).



Whew. That was a mouthful, sorry for going on for so long about all that. Getting back on topic, you make a good point about necromancer needing to fit the ability descriptions, I never thought about that aspect of things.

I also like the idea of maybe giving BM spells a slight chance of debuffs akin to what you did for the Dark trio for deathscythes.

Upgraded traps would definitely make the Ranger's skills more worthwhile, sadly I don't know what you could really do within the constraints of the ability editor.

Huh, guess I'll have to check out ravagers after all, seems like an interesting use of the 3 turn doom timer!

I love the idea behind Reckoning for the fighter, how would you go about implementing it? Random debuff 1 or 2 on self, then damage the target based off how many debuffs the user has?

I don't think the samurai change would work, as I think I saw on a thread somewhere (maybe even this one, I don't remember) that the 'ignore defense' property only applies to defense and not resistance. Haven't tested it for myself, but if it DOES work on resistance the change could make for an interesting hybrid.

The ninja update looks fantastic and more varied, and better fits the reality of the assassins and hitmen that actual ninjas were.

Warrior and Dragoon are looking a lot more interesting now, can't complain. Does this mean that the new debuffs on the elemental breath skills will also be on dragon's versions of them? Would make them ever more formidable does that dragons really should be.

I like the idea of the Warden, seems much more eye catching and useful than the myrmidon, very glad to see this change.

The gladiator's new skills really feel like something a bloodthirsty arena combatant would use, much more appropriate than the elemental blades.

Templar's changes are welcome, while still remaining true to their anti mage theme, nice to see the fat get trimmed.

Regarding sage and alchemist, I agree that they would work better consolidated into one job focused around being the ubermage so to speak, but my question is twofold: what skills would you be keeping from both skillsets, and what would you replace the now empty second job with? Personally I would hope that scathe, bio, and protometeor would make the cut, as well as maybe omega and gigaflare, but at that point the job might be a bit redundant with all the non elemental damaging spells. Toad would be nice to keep as well.

Still not a fan of the green mage, but at least it should be useful in combat to complement its buffs and debuffs.

It's a shame to see that you can't give possess an HP cost due to engine limitations, but oh well. Offering seems more distinct from the other revive skills now, good stuff.

The evoker sounds awesome, but I'm not sure how it would be implemented in the engine. If you can pull it off, I'd be all for it!

Al-Cid's skillset is perfectly faithful to his vanilla concept, but seems far more useful. The only concern I have is that he will be almost useless if you only have one or two female units in a battle as only gria and viera would be affected by his skills, but then again you have adelle, penelo and frimelda to help fill up a batter's roster so I don't think he quite falls into the same trap as the necromancer thankfully.

I like how vaan is basically the ultimate self-buffing unit. Give him two or three turns to set up and he would be almost unstoppable.

Oh, and regarding my ideas for making the monsters more balanced in the early game, I'm out of town for the next couple days, but I'd be happy to start doing the math on possible stat growths when I get back home! Honestly, it was kind of a shower idea, the math might not work out, but fingers crossed! As for their new skills, I like what you've done with them and think they'll be more interesting to fight now. The boss mobs in particular look pretty terrifying and should make for some tense battles. This post is already long enough as is and it's very late here, so I'll save more point by point thoughts on monster skills for another post after I've gotten some sleep.

All that being said, rabidly looking forward to the next release whenever that may be and I'll be happy to playtest it and give more feedback! Keep up the good work.

EDIT:

I just now had a thought about buffing ranger traps. Since you wanted to let them set traps in an AoE, what if you gave the trap skills a quicken effect on self, that way you could set multiple traps in one 'turn'. You would have to give the skills a not insignificant MP cost as with any self quicken skill, but I can't think of any other way to directly buff traps.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on December 27, 2017, 06:10:35 pm
To summarize:

-Reckoning, yeah. It would debuff the user twice and then inflict damage. It'd need some testing to see the order in which the effects would go off, but I think I could make it work, even if it means having to use it continually to do so.

-Sage would be the more varied spellcaster, since traditionally Sages have a wide array of spells, and they'd probably get Ultima. Alchemists would likely be more about statuses and item usage.

-As far as Rangers are concerned, I'm leery about anything Quicken, since the AI is weird about it. I think traps are going to just have to be something I play around with until I find something I like.

On a related topic, I brainstormed a Black Mage revamp while in bed this morning. Here's what I came up with:

-Fire magick is the most "reliable", focusing on damage and AoE attacks.
-Ice magick is the most defensive, focusing on debilitating the enemy and making them unable to strike at the caster.
-Thunder magick is the most focused on risk and reward, focusing on potentially dealing heavy damage, but with less control.
-Tier 1 magick is the simplest, focusing solely on damage, with each element having its own gimmick still.
-Tier 2 and 3 magick focuses more on tactical usage, with varying effects.

Fire: Deals minor Fire damage in a large AoE and removes Oil.
Fira: Deals minor Fire damage in a small AoE and inflicts Oil.
Firaga: Deals heavy Fire damage in a small AoE and disperses the targets away from each other and removes Oil.
Blizzard: Deals Ice damage to units in a small AoE.
Blizzara: Deals Ice damage to a single target and Roots it with perfect accuracy.
Blizzaga: Deals heavy Ice damage to adjacent targets, knocks them back, and inflicts Immobilize with perfect accuracy.
Thunder: Deals Thunder damage to a single target within six tiles.
Thundara: Deals heavy Thunder damage to either allies or enemies in a large AoE.
Thundaga: Deals minor Thunder damage from 0-4 times randomly onto a single target.

EDIT:

I think I also have a concept drawn up for the Defender/Myrmidon replacement. Rather than a Warden job based on Shields, it'd be a Judicer job based on Gabranth's skillset from FFXII/Dissidia, and would be an anti-physical unit, kinda like Templars but focusing on fending off physical units. Basically, it'd be a more offensive version of a Paladin, with less magickal ability than a Moogle Knight, with the ability to deal with physical units better than a Templar, and less offense compared to Gladiators.

Execution: Inflicts 999 damage on an adjacent HP Critical unit.
Rupture: Deals physical damage to an adjacent unit and inflicts Poison, Disable, and Haste (simulating bleeding).
Battle Cry: Bestows Critical Up and Defending on the user.
Innocence: Deals damage to a unit within three linear tiles of the user with a chance to inflict Addle.
Vortex: Deals physical damage to surrounding units with a chance to inflict Slow.
Rage: Inflicts Berserk and Blind on an adjacent target.
Taunt: Inflicts Berserk and Immobilize on an adjacent target.
Guilt: Deals physical damage to units in a cone in front of the user with a chance to inflict Attack Down.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Baron Samedi on December 27, 2017, 10:46:25 pm
Well I promised monster feedback, so here goes:



Illua (not a monster but close enough): I'm absolutely dreading fighting Illua now (in a good way mind). Sheol could completely win the battle by itself, especially combined with dimensional rift. She seems like an actual boss now and not just a glorified special job you don't get.

Goblin: very straightforward, feels more interesting as an HP manipulation focused unit than the random hodgepodge of skills it used to have

Faeries: Fey mischief is a nice buff that will make them priority targets to get rid of before they make their whole team impossible to hit. I like the added debuff on meteorite to make it more than just 'do damage'; I dont quite get the logic behind it confusing targets, but I guess I'd be pretty confused too if someone dropped a meteor on my head.

Lamia: Night's new effect seems much more manageable and fair for the player now, I approve. Kiss is a nice gimmick, and the rest of its skills cement it as a solid debuff specialist unit.

Wolves: Very solid skillset all around. In glad you got rid of the elemental blow skills, those were beyond frustrating to deal with in early game missions when wolves could destroy your entire team from multiple tiles away.

Bunnies: As far as I know, the only difference here is hip attack being unavoidable and having a chance to charm. Probably for the best as they already excelled at trolling the player by hasting their team throughout the battle.

Werewolves: Very boring in vanilla, this set makes them the straighforward angry piles of meat they should have been from the beginning.

Antlions: Very well thought out skills that synergize well with each other. I can definitely see them comboing quicksand and suffocate or gnaw to completely cripple a unit for most of the battle.

Adamantoises: I still find resonate's target all AoE infuriating combined with perfect accuracy (assuming you kept its perfect accuracy from vanilla), I think it would be better as a large AoE surrounding the user or even a summoning AoE. Headbutt is nice thematically, as you would probably forget a lot of things after being smashed in the head by their iron hard skulls.

Malboros: THE definitive debuffing monster, absolutely terrifying to let get close to your units, and are effectively immune to debuffs themselves thanks to purify. They'll defintely be my priority target in any battle I face them in.

Alraunes: I feel like they have more skills in their set now than they used to, I seem to remember them only having around 3 skills. If I'm not misremembering that, how did you manage to give them new skill slots? I thought that was impossible in the engine. Regardless, their skills are cohesive and fun, and I especially like the pokemon tribute that is Horn Drill.

Cockatrices: I think the skillset makes them a lot more threatening, however I get nervous that they have access to both accuracy+ and petrify. That could prove to be very frustrating to deal with.

Chocobos: They already had solid skills, but nothing too flashy. This is a minor but welcome tweak to their set, and if the version of the hack I played is any indication all colors get access to the entire skillset instead of only a few skills, which was sorely needed.

Flans: acid and mambo give them more of a unique feel, and should go well with their black magick backup skills.

Bombs: Not much to say aside from the added oil chance on flame attack is a no brainer that should have been in vanilla imo.

Zombies: As good as a two skill set can be, not much room for experimentation here.

Ghosts: Flash should add a bit of depth to their fights as it forces the player to really consider each unit's facing in undead fights.

Deathscythes: Absolutely crippling debuffs make them as scary as they really should be, basically ghosts on steroids.

Floating Eyes: Combining their ability to fly with the ability to increase their move makes them very threatening. I find it strange that they don't have any skills based on eye contact, since they're literally eyes with wings.

Ahrimans: I'm glad they at least have eye contact skills, and they have their own niche as the monster equivalent of the soldier that drains your stats.

Tonberries: It's funny how one simple skill alteration can change these guys from nonthreatening to 'oh god oh god I'm going to die'. Giving tonberries the ability to go invisible almost guarantees they'll maim or kill at least one of your units before going down, which is a change I approve of considering how rare they are.

Dullahans: No idea what monster you're referring to here, presumably the headless? If so the helmsplitter skill is a nice touch, guess they get jealous. The other skills seem practical, but not really cohesive and don't seem to really fit into any theme.

Behemoths: Another straightforward beatstick of a monster, no problems here.

Dragons: I think the new skills focusing on buffing and fortifying fellow dragons when they're close to death are very cool and really play into the idea of dragons being some of the hardiest and fearsome monsters in almost any culture's folklore.

Yowies: Very focused skills that all contribute to the boss' longevity at the expense of the player, possibly the easiest boss monster, but it should be since its the first real boss fight of the game.

Rafflessia: I'm surprised how well the nature/plant themed skills translate to A2's gameplay, it makes me want to create a player job based around those themes.

Demon Wall: As devastating as gravija would be in any other fight, is there even a point to Demon Wall having it? Your units having 1 HP doesn't really matter in this fight since repel already does massive damage and I don't think the Demon Wall even has a standard attack outside of pushing your units off the map of you're too slow in killing it.

Crushatrice: Solid skills that turn the chicken into a giant wall of meat for you to slowly grind down, having a damage all enemies skill makes it much more of a threat than it would otherwise be.

Neukhia: Just as absolutely devastating as a final boss' skills should be. I'm actually surprised reraise even works on the core. I would have thought it would be scripted to start the ending cutscene immediately after death before reraise has a chance to kick in, just goes to show how flexible the A2 engine can be.

Weapons: very powerful skills, although I question the logic of how exactly a giant spider robot manages to charm your units.

Misc. Skills: Having instant death on Darkga seems very unfair to me, if it has such a potent effect it should only have 0.5x debuff accuracy at the absolute highest, if not 0.25x debuff accuracy.

Espers: I really like how varied their effects are now; that being said I'll never use them as a matter of personal preference. They always feel cheap and unfair to me as the AI is incapable of using them and gives the player an unfair advantage over them. Much in the same way I never use revive skills as the AI is literally incapable of reviving their teammates even if you edit all their skills to be teammate revival.



When you say the AI is weird about self quicken effects, what do you mean? I ask because I was planning on making Rush from the fighter and gladiator do 0.25x damage and quicken on self for a decent MP cost. Will the AI always prioritize self quicken skills over everything else or something?

The black mage overhaul is looking great. I especially like the idea of setting up the target with oil from fira, then comboing it with fire or firaga. It was clever to have fire and firaga remove oil on hit, as in real life if you light a something covered in oil on fire the fire burns more intensely for a few seconds before the oil is gone. Nice attention to detail.

I also agree that Sage should be more varied; when I think sages in the FF series I always think of FF3's sage that had access to all the best black and white magick but very limited spell charges to compensate for it. If Alchemists are about statuses, what would differentiate them from say, the orator or trickster? I know it would probably be impossible to have both in the same hack, but the only way to make them really feel like alchemists would be to give them an analogue to the Gourmand's cooking skill, where you consume items to give various effects. Although if I'm right and only one can be in the hack, I would much prefer the gourmand keep cooking as it's such a fun job and concept.

EDIT:

Just saw your edit with the Judicer, I like the idea of it being almost a hybrid of templar, paladin and moogle hero. I hope execution has a sufficiently awesome animation to go along with its ridiculous overkill.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on December 27, 2017, 11:09:23 pm
Thanks for the feedback, Baron! To address your points...

-Faeries using Meteorite to confuse you is yeah, a giant rock slams into your head, that's bound to cause some confusion, haha. Plus it plays into their role of being annoying pranksters.

-Adamantoises having Resonate is something that'll eventually change. I get why it's there thematically, but I also don't like it. I feel like there's more interesting things that can be given to it, but I haven't really given much thought to it.

-Alraunes actually had that many skills from the beginning! You just didn't see the Tomato abilities a lot, because they became rarer (and were far easier to kill) late-game.

-If Vaan is a human self-buffer, Cockatrices are the monster version. Cockatrices, thematically, are all about teamwork and self-buffing to tear your party apart if allowed to have enough time to do so. Wake-Up Call allows them to play well with each other even when they're not buffing.

-I wanted Floating Eyes to be more about speed and range, as opposed to statuses and trickery. They're basically how Bats were in FFXII, so I wanted to represent that in the changes as well.

-Dullahans are Headless, yes. The biggest difference between Werewolves, Dullahans, and Behemoths is that Werewolves are more about setting up and buffing themselves, whereas Dullahans are all about crippling the target, and Behemoths are just like, nope, and focus on outright killing the target. It's hard making them all feel unique (though stat changes will help, and Werewolves can use some Light Armor), but they were pretty similar to begin with.

-Gravija exists because other jobs besides Demon Wall uses it (namely the final boss), but yeah, in the Demon Wall fight it doesn't really matter.

-As far as Neukhia is concerned, I'm not sure if it'll work! If not, it'll do Regen instead.

-Anything inflicting Death would have a far less accurate chance than a normal debuff, so don't worry about that feeling too cheap.

-Espers were inspired by fighting game assists, of all things. You summon them and they have a potentially tide-turning effect, but only if used correctly. I designed them so that they'd each have a niche use depending on your situation, so you may want to try them out! As for reviving units, I want to play around with that a bit. I feel like it has to somehow be possible, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't. That'll be something I play with when I can edit formations.

-As far as Quicken is concerned, the AI will spam Quicken like no tomorrow because it's such a good effect. It's why I'm super careful when distributing it.

-Once upon a time, I was going to give Alchemist a skillset like what the Gourmand has now, but I liked the idea of a Gourmand that could cook things more overall. If I were to revamp Alchemist, I'd have them themed around the classical elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air while focusing on debuffs. Sages would have a variety of magicks, with higher end spells such as Gigaflare and Ultima.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on December 28, 2017, 12:52:57 am
Thanks for all the detailed feedback!

With respect to the Seeq being annoying, one thing you could do with a Viking would be to turn it into a lightning/water-based version of the Vartan.

That's actually something you could play out across several different classes (a different one for each element). This could fill in some of your gaps, like the Alchemist. If you add elemental resistances/immunities/absorptions to monsters/jobs it makes things even more interesting.

This might beg the question of what to do with a job like a Black Mage if you have individual classes that can do a specific element better. Personally, Black Mages get kind of boring for me and the increased MP cost relative to increased spell power means that I never bother with them past early game.

You could refashion the Black Mage into an elemental-specific job. You could also change it into a reverse Red Mage - whereas the Red Mage gets cure/protect/shell (I'd probably swap silence for a buff), you could give the Black Mage poison/silence/blind/sleep/etc.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on December 28, 2017, 01:22:41 pm
@Eternal:

looking forward to the changes, and since you haven't decided about the myriddons I thought I could share some of what I have tried.  (I was definitely on the same thought train btw)

firstly some weapon changes were made to make this work.  2h weapons were increased in damage compared to 1h weapons, and 2h broadswords got a +1 range (weaker than other 2h weapons).

Cymbol bash:
I gave them a shield requiring 50% damage knockback with a targeting effect and a 1/2 debuff chance delay turn.  if you have a 1 handed knight sword, then the targeting only helps if the enemy moves towards you next turn (works well with melee units).  If the delay turn debuff procs then no extra attack, but you do get a delay turn.  However if you have monkey grip and a broadsword you will still be in range for the second attack! Makes monkey grip actually useful (combined with stronger 2handers)! 

Not sure if taunt came with immobalize or not when you made it (I lose track of some changes I make) but it really works well with this skill: once berserked-> attacks myrmiddon cuz it cant go anywhere else-> myrmiddon uses cymbol bash and pushes unit back (avoid counter) and targets unit for next turn.  Can shut down a melee unit pretty well 1 on 1 while doing decent damage.

probs dont need the delay turn with the skill but i havent felt the need to change it yet.

Arc of Might: Basically a target and focus 3 tiles away, also has a defence up on self.  Next turn does lots of damage but requires either immobile targets or targets in melee to approach. works well with the other skills other units have to immobilize etc. Also causes loss of movement next turn on seld so there is a drawback to using it if it fails, units is kinda stuck doing nothing or sub optimal things when stuck out of range

Also turned the aoe skills you had into shield requiring skills that did 25% weapon based elemental damage along with damage based on units own max health, the target max health and some of this units missing health respectively (to give some offensive abilities tied to its tankyness as opposed to pure attack growth etc)  these are kinda hard to do what i want so i wont list the specifics here.

Another note regarding equipment rending: Yes it is kinda useless but if you alter stat gains and equipment level it becomes useful.  lowering offensive stat growth by 40% or so and defensive by 30% while increasing the defence on armors (mdef on robes and def on heavy armour etc)  then a tanky banga in platemail will shrug off arrows and such, only really strong base damage abilities or weapons can hurt (or magic).  But rending the equipment can drop the def by a lot making him much squishier.  Its what i did in my game to balance some skills, its not perfect but I find it helped a lot.  Also buffed shields def and mdef to make shield bearer useful etc.

These are just some of the things that I did and you are free to use them however you want, if you want.  Also target with a melee unit can be pretty funny, when it triggers it will always face the unit in the direction of the target but will only swing if something is adjacent in that direction. It does hit diagonally as well, but I'm not sure if that is because of the +1 range of the broadswords.  It will hit friendlies beside you in between the target and the unit even if the target is across the map which is awesome :)

 
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Baron Samedi on December 28, 2017, 05:41:10 pm
I'm glad you put as much thought as you did into the monsters, they all feel like they have their own niche, even the three melee tanks like you said in your post. Go figure that the tomatoes had that many skills. And honestly, I'd like to see resonate remain in some form as the 'target requires a bladed weapon' effect has a lot of potential, I just don't like that it hits everything in the battle. Maybe a small AoE or something would work, or maybe a different effect than disable.

The espers are definitely interesting now, I'm sure I'll give them all a shot as I unlock them. Thanks for letting me know about the AI and self quicken, that means I have a few skills to redesign.

Regarding revival skills, I saw over on the thread for the A2 tools, someone figured out that one of the 'unknown' check boxes on page two of the ability editor controls whether the AI can use a skill. Maybe if you check that off on a revival skill the AI can use it? I'll test it for myself when I get home tomorrow, but if that works it would be pretty groundbreaking.

@bearPRIME: I really like your idea of giving 2h broadswords +1 range; I haven't messed around with equipment much, but some weapon classes could definitely use some love like that. Also I never thought to try out the target effect on a melee job, that seems pretty fun!

EDIT:

Forgot to point out that I love the idea of giving the alchemist the four classical elements, thumbs up!

DOUBLE EDIT XTREME:

I think I've finally figured out almost all the skillsets for my own hack. However, I've never used a hex editor before, which I obviously need in order to change skill names/descriptions/animations. I want to look up some tutorials on the subject, but before I do, which hex editor would you recommend for editing FFTA2?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on December 30, 2017, 01:22:13 pm
I've put together all of the tools I use for FFTA2 GG and made a mini modding suite folder for you to use. I use Goldfinger, and load the included FFTA2 Text Table to make text edits. The spreadsheets have the offset references, so you can just go directly to what you want to edit and make your changes. Hope this helps!

https://www.sendspace.com/file/akdph5

EDIT:

I think I've figured out what to do with the Viking's four unique abilities. Given that Thunder magicks would be far more random, I wanted to give them some physical attacks that also play to their role as thieves, making them pirate-y Red Mage/Thieves in their own unique way.

Flood: Deals a minor amount of Water damage to all enemies while standing in a water tile.
Relinquish: Deals physical damage to an adjacent target and inflicts Magick Down, while bestowing Magick Up on the user.
Plunder: Deals physical damage to an adjacent target's HP and MP, and restores the user's MP by half of the damage dealt.
Despoil: Deals physical damage to an adjacent target and inflicts Resistance Down, while bestowing Resistance Up on the user.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Baron Samedi on January 02, 2018, 10:32:08 pm
Thanks! This should be very helpful, especially the text to hex tool, as I'm still having trouble getting used to counting in hexidecimal.

Regarding the Viking, the new skills are nice, a good recycling of the Ravager concept of draining stats from a few pages back. Relinquish especially is sorely needed for the Vikin's magic skills, as the Seeq have very little in terms of Magick growths. I'm still not a fan of having to stand in a water tile to use Flood, again because of how few maps really have water tiles. In fact, I'm pretty sure none of the repeatable battle maps (random battles and repeatable quests) even have water tiles at all. This means that you only have a finite amount of chances to even use the skill before you do the quests that have water tiles in them. Afterward, the skill might as well not even exist. Maybe a minor nitpick on my part, but that is a pet peeve of mine with this game.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on January 03, 2018, 06:01:57 pm
Flood is just kind of a fill-in skill for now until I'm sold on something else. If it does get put in, it'll likely be temporary.

On an unrelated note, the changes are about halfway done! Yay progress. I also had a really weird idea that I came up with as I went to sleep last night. It struck me and I just had to pull out my phone and put it into notes. It's super random, but it'd pay homage to Celdia's Complete Patch and a favorite series of mine- Castlevania.

The concept? Kupo Belmont! ...well, the job wouldn't be called that. The job would be a much needed Moogle warrior job (since Moogle Hero is a little more akin to a mage than a true warrior). Behold... the Slayer! I haven't inserted the job yet, since I was hoping to get feedback on it, but it would basically be a Moogle warrior job akin to Soldier, Warrior, etc., but with a focus on killing monsters and undead. Against humans, their skills would be downright boring, but the gimmick is that each ability would have an additional effect against monsters, and yet another additional effect against undead, making them perfect for slaying nearby monsters (whereas Hunters are better from afar, and Necromancers are better from afar and deal strictly with Undead and other effects). It needs to be tested, but in theory it should work. (In theory being the operative phrase, at least.) :P

Each skill is based off of a traditional subweapon from the Castlevania series, each having a different effect with varying use based on the situation. Most of the skills consume MP equal to the rough Heart cost in the series, and they focus on melee-mid range attacks.

Knife:
-Cost: 1 MP
-Throws knives in front of oneself, dealing physical damage in a cone in front of the user.
    Monsters:   Damage is doubled.
    Undead:     Damage is doubled and as a chance to inflict Blind.

Axe:
-Cost: 4 MP
-Hurls an axe in an arc, dealing physical damage to a distant target.
    Monsters:   Attack will never miss.
    Undead:     Attack will never miss and has a chance to inflict Defense Down.

Holy Water:
-Cost: 3 MP
-Lobs a flask of blessed water, dealing Fire physical damage in a small line in front of the user.
    Monsters:   Has a chance to inflict Poison.
    Undead:     Has a chance to inflict Poison and removes KO'd Undead.

Stopwatch:
-Cost: 20 MP
-Activates a magicked stopwatch, slowing time for units surrounding the user.
    Monsters:   Inflicts Stop as well as Slow.
    Undead:     Inflicts Stop, Slow, and Speed Down.

Bible:
Cost: 5 MP
-Speaks words of prayer, dealing Holy physical damage to adjacent units.
    Monsters:   Has a chance to inflict Silence.
    Undead:     Warps enemies away and inflicts Rooted, and has a chance to inflict Silence.

Crystal:
Cost: 2 MP
-Lobs an explosive chunk of rock, dealing minor physical damage to units in a small area.
    Monsters:   Has a chance to inflict Attack Down.
    Undead:     Has a chance to inflict Evasion Down and Attack Down.

Vibhuti:
Cost: 3 MP
-Throws purifying salt on the ground in front of the user, dealing physical damage to a single adjacent target.
    Monsters:   Removes all buffs.
    Undead:     Inflicts Magick Down and removes all buffs.

Cross:
Cost: 100 MP
-Unleashes divine power around the user, dealing heavy Holy physical damage to adjacent units.
    Monsters:   Has a very small chance to inflict Death.
    Undead:     Has a chance to inflict Petrify and a very small chance to inflict Death.

EDIT: Not sure what I'd do about descriptions, but I might just make them as descriptive as possible and have people figure them out themselves or read this. Also, no Belmont is complete without a Whip, so I may end up replacing either Vibhuti or Crystal for an auto-Mastered Whip skill that deals weapon damage to two tiles in a line in front of the user. Since it would deal weapon damage, you can use Whip any time with any weapon. I also want to make a Pot Roast skill using Cuisine's animation, but I'm undecided yet.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Baron Samedi on January 03, 2018, 10:51:14 pm
The Slayer is a really cool idea for a job, which one would it be replacing? I think the idea of having progressively more potent effects for monsters and undead is a good way to handle a specialist class as they'll be useful in a large amount of the battles in the game.

I strongly support the idea of the whip skill as that's a very clever way to give a character a 'built in' weapon and fits the theme perfectly. I would trade it for Vibhuti, that seems like the least interesting skill. I also think a skill using the pot roast animation would be a nice touch, don't know which skill would be worth trading for a self-heal though.

About the descriptions, I don't think you could fit the descriptions and the flavor text in game with that many effects in most cases sadly. You could just have the effects written in-game and leave the flavor text in the thread or readme or wherever. At least then you know what you're using while playing the hack and have the flavor text available if you're into that.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on January 03, 2018, 11:08:17 pm
Conveniently enough, it'd be replacing the Animist (I was going to do a Summoner-ish job with it originally, but decided I had enough magic jobs), which also solves the problem of people having issues with monsters early on. Now they have a job that can easily tackle tough monster fights early on!

EDIT: The Black Magick changes make Seers really interesting now... they'll get Fira (which is small AoE, Add: Oil), Blizzara (single target, Add: Rooted), and Thundara (large AoE, randomly hits either allies or enemies), for an interesting mix of skills to add to their already varied spell list.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on January 07, 2018, 09:17:41 pm
Today I finished making a very basic guide for the next release, with the guide going over each job, their Move/Jump, what they can use, and a detailed description of their skills. What do you guys think? The .pdf is attached. Looking forward to a new release very soon! All I have to do is go through and finish up a few non-monster skills, make the Judicer, go over monster skills, and then playtest.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on January 07, 2018, 11:42:07 pm
The pdf is a classy touch to go along with the release.

Overall question - are stat growths unchanged from vanilla?

I've been looking forward to this update for quite some time. Thanks again for your continued hard work on this! Below are some very minor questions/feedback.

Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on January 08, 2018, 06:23:37 pm
@Moose: Thanks for the feedback! I've fixed the issues in the guide.

Thief: The Loot abilities were thematically sensible, but were ultimately useless. Loot was already easy enough to come by, and things like Vaan and Hunting still exist for rarer loot. So while the Loot abilities are gone, there's still ways to get rare loot as you progress through the game. I'm not too worried about Steal Armor- it's a great way to debilitate the foe and score some gear.

Samurai: Nosada is intended to be a callback to FFT's Kiyomori ability. The point is to use it before getting close to the enemy, at the start of the battle when your units are still all together to get a cheap, easy buff on most of them.

Ninja: Specifically, Fuuma does damage equal to half of one's weapon damage to a target from 4 tiles away with perfect accuracy, bypassing Reactions and taking facing into effect. Essentially, it's for a Ninja to deal some physical damage to a ranged target (or to finish off an evasive target) until it gets close enough. Or for a Ninja who's fresh out of MP or doesn't want to use a magickal skill.

Warrior: Rend Speed inflicts Slow, whereas Mangle inflicts Speed Down. These are two different statuses, with Slow wearing off over time but Speed Down not. Mangle makes it possible for a Bangaa to reduce an enemy's Speed dramatically, combining Rend Speed and Mangle.

Dragoons: Wyrmkiller will probably end up being more useful when I can edit formations. The ultimate goal is to make dragons super tanky and powerful (like dragons tend to be in the FF series), and as such, having a higher HP threshold, will hit HP Critical earlier. Then Wyrmkiller will be able to just cut right through that wounded dragon and bring it down before it can heal.

Templar: Normally, I would agree, but there are two things to note: Silence is AoE, and Judgment is short range and only AoE if you're using a Spear. Judgment also deals damage, which is a great addition. Rasp deals MP damage in a large area, giving the Templar a ranged option, whereas Inquisition is great for taking out surrounding mages and reducing their Magick so they're even further neutered. It really just depends on what situation you're in at the moment.

En Garde: It's a shared skill, so there wasn't too much I could do with it. It's a Werewolf ability as well, so changing it would've changed their ability as well.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on February 02, 2018, 05:25:27 pm
Hey team! Wanted to give everyone a quick update on this. I've been going through each skill and rebalancing/playing around with them as necessary and I'm finishing up on the new jobs. Nothing fancy to show and it's been kinda slow going because it's been a busy month, but things are coming along nicely! Looking forward to potentially wrapping up the next update soon (probably in March sometime- February is historically a pretty busy/chaotic month for me).
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on February 04, 2018, 11:20:50 am
Looking forward to it!

I know the answer will be no, but we'd be happy to help test the balance issues in the meantime.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on February 19, 2018, 04:15:15 am
Eternal,

Thanks for for the modding suite, that should really help understand what's possible right now.  Still looking forward to the next iteration!

Leave grapple in, and uhm, just tell people not to use it on the bosses.

I'd rather not lose a cool mechanic just because you can cheat/cheese with it.  It's really up to the player if they want to cheese bosses or not.

If you want to bring back loot - I'd think it would be cool to make the Steal X skills also do a Loot.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: R000ster on March 16, 2018, 12:50:54 am
Oh maaaaaaaaan. Is it bad I've been checking every day in March so far to see if this gets an update? Created an account here to try and reach rrs_kai regarding his discontinued hack, but figured making a post here to see if March will hold true couldn't hurt.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Mickey B on March 16, 2018, 03:52:49 am
I want to try this hack. Got an updated patch?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on March 16, 2018, 05:52:15 pm
I don't have an official update yet, but things are looking good. March in general is a busy month for me since it's the end of the first quarter and I work in the financial industry. I've been pecking away at changes while at work, so it's coming along!

@Grassmudhorses, I apologize, I thought I had replied to your post, but apparently I didn't. I'm so sorry! The answer is "no", but only because I'm not finished making all the bigger revisions I want to make. Once I have though, I'd actually really be interested in having people help test. I don't have as much free time as I used to, so the extra help would be greatly appreciated, and I value the community's input into this. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: R000ster on March 16, 2018, 07:12:32 pm
Sweet. Thanks for the update, keep on keeping on. Loved the tactics series as a whole and looking forward to trying a fresh take on them after all these years. If you need testers, looks like there are still people to this day who feel the same :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Stormlag on March 17, 2018, 01:59:26 am
I will happily test the new version once its out!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Kyuma on March 18, 2018, 04:13:00 am
I'm interested on testing!! I will be happy to help on this project =)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: mopdog on May 01, 2018, 06:48:05 pm
Started playing .7. Is really great so far. Still hoping to one day see a change log for stat growths. Would also appreciate knowing what classes replaced what so I can unlock them easier than trying to guess.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: BearPRIME on May 04, 2018, 09:35:12 am
Quote from: mopdog on May 01, 2018, 06:48:05 pm
Started playing .7. Is really great so far. Still hoping to one day see a change log for stat growths. Would also appreciate knowing what classes replaced what so I can unlock them easier than trying to guess.


Its pretty hard to track stats and stuff even though much is the same.  I find the best way is to check out lennart's ffta2 editors for ability and for jobs.  All the stat growths are listed there and you can see the abilities for each job (they have the old names in the editor).  I think for the most part there isn't any major changes to stat gain for most classes.  the only one I remember is the arcanist has 11 atk or something, but a safe assumption is that vanilla close to accurate.

I think all the job requirements are the same, and at the top of my head the job changes are:

hume: samurai replaced pariver, necromancer replaced illusionist
viera: occultist replaced elemantalist, 
Bangaa: oracle replaced master monk, myrmiddon replaced defender
moogle: engineer replaced fusilier, corsair replaces juggler, orator replaced gageteer
nu mou: Daemon replaced arcanist, and necromancer replaced illusionist, druid replaced beastmaster
gria: vartan replaced raptor, gourmand replaced geomancer
seeq: reaver replaces lanista

hope it helps
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: mopdog on May 05, 2018, 04:55:13 am
Yes that helps greatly. I will refer to vanilla stat growths and thanks for explaining replaced classes. I'm not very familiar with the vanilla game due to hearing it being to easy and cheesy. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on May 05, 2018, 11:14:16 pm
There's still a Hard mode. I'd say play a bit of it on Normal/Hard to get a feel for the game in general before trying this.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 16, 2018, 05:16:29 pm
@Eternal, I have a question about the Job classes using weapons out of their race since in Vanilla FFTA2, like i know using specific weapon types that isn't meant to be used by a specific race tends to freeze the game with and without them being able to equip them.

Do you have a way around that, or did you try it out without it freezing?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on May 16, 2018, 08:24:08 pm
It's a bit of trial-and-error, but in general, each unit can use "striking" weapon sprite frames. It's things like ranged weapons that become more hit-and-miss.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 16, 2018, 08:29:31 pm
Quote from: Eternal on May 16, 2018, 08:24:08 pm
It's a bit of trial-and-error, but in general, each unit can use "striking" weapon sprite frames. It's things like ranged weapons that become more hit-and-miss.


I see, i'll try doing that as well then, thank you. :)

Also how's progress with GG going?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on May 16, 2018, 08:42:52 pm
With the new editors, quite well! I'm playing with formations now. I'm heading out of town for a few days to the Bahamas, but once I get back you can believe I'm going to be breaking stuff, haha.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 16, 2018, 08:45:28 pm
Quote from: Eternal on May 16, 2018, 08:42:52 pm
With the new editors, quite well! I'm playing with formations now. I'm heading out of town for a few days to the Bahamas, but once I get back you can believe I'm going to be breaking stuff, haha.


Nice, i'm doing the same as well with the formations, but it kind of sucks that there's no way to add units into a formation, but at least you can edit the party limit for each mission.  :v/:
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: DeSgeretjin on May 17, 2018, 03:39:37 am
Technically I can add a add unit feature to the formation editor, but there isn't much space in the rom for new units so you'd have to delete some to make room. We also don't know what dictates which and where the units are placed.

If you look at the brightmoon tor formations, you can actually see that there is more units than are actually in the fight. Another one is the 'Of a feather' where Redhawk can randomly appear.

Apparently editing the 'faction?' byte can actually place units out of bounds or break scripts where units teleport in or start them off with debuffs.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 17, 2018, 04:04:19 am
Quote from: DeSgeretjin on May 17, 2018, 03:39:37 am
Technically I can add a add unit feature to the formation editor, but there isn't much space in the rom for new units so you'd have to delete some to make room. We also don't know what dictates which and where the units are placed.

If you look at the brightmoon tor formations, you can actually see that there is more units than are actually in the fight. Another one is the 'Of a feather' where Redhawk can randomly appear.

Apparently editing the 'faction?' byte can actually place units out of bounds or break scripts where units teleport in or start them off with debuffs.


Ah i see, well thank you for the reply.

I guess it's just best to mess with the current enemy unit formations we have then, at least we can go full steam with editing thier loadouts and such without touching the "faction?" part then.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 01:38:07 am
Hello!

I'm incredibly impressed and thankful that you, and most everyone else in this thread have dedicated such a tremendous amount of time and effort in bringing this mod to v1.0!

If you're still trying to come up with ideas for Adelle's Heritor Job, might I suggest borrowing abilities from Bravely Default and Second (such as Phoenix Flight) for her to utilize? There's a vast pool of abilities across those two games alone to draw inspiration from for her, and other jobs you're reworking, to toy around with. :D

If possible, you could also give her a Support Ability to supplement the "high risk vs high reward" concept you me tioned using for her.

Last Stand - Greatly boosts Atk and Mag when in critical condition

or something like that.

I hope I was able to help, and that further work on the mod (and in your personal life) go smoothly! :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 07:31:49 am
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 01:38:07 am
If possible, you could also give her a Support Ability to supplement the "high risk vs high reward" concept you me tioned using for her.

Last Stand - Greatly boosts Atk and Mag when in critical condition


I don't think there's a way to edit reaction and passive abilities as of right now..., only action abilities...

Also hello and welcome to the forums, hopefully you find everything here to your liking.  :D
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 09:53:01 am
ah, that's a shame.  :(
then perhaps she could have hefty HP Costs for her abilities, forcing players to decide to blast through enemies and risk her being easily picked off by the enemy, or save them for certain conditions to optimize the damage dealt vs her HP loss (such as kiting enemies to get more targets in her Line-Reaching Lennart ability)

and thank you for the warm welcome! :D
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 09:58:44 am
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 09:53:01 am
ah, that's a shame.  :(
then perhaps she could have hefty HP Costs for her abilities, forcing players to decide to blast through enemies and risk her being easily picked off by the enemy, or save them for certain conditions to optimize the damage dealt vs her HP loss (such as kiting enemies to get more targets in her Line-Reaching Lennart ability)

and thank you for the warm welcome! :D


Yeah i wish Reaction and Passive abilities were editable, i'd probably edit all the empty slots there is within that section the rom has in Hex editing, and it's very possible to have abilities to do damage based on HP loss, she has one in vanilla FFTA2 i think, and you're welcome.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 10:15:21 am
I had forgotten about Viola haha
though i do recall it having rather atrocious accuracy ratings, somewhere around 25% hit rate.

having the hefty HP costs on most of Adelle's Heritor abilities would make Viola much more useful, however Viola would need a sizeable buff in accuracy- possibly around base 75% accuracy- to be worth using over simply healing Adelle.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 10:20:49 am
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 10:15:21 am
I had forgotten about Viola haha
though i do recall it having rather atrocious accuracy ratings, somewhere around 25% hit rate.

having the hefty HP costs on most of Adelle's Heritor abilities would make Viola much more useful, however Viola would need a sizeable buff in accuracy- possibly around base 75% accuracy- to be worth using over simply healing Adelle.


Yeah the accuracy for Viola was terrible, however the editors and hex can only edit the accuracy values from 25%, 50%, normal, x2 of normal, and using the passive ability "Concentration" only raises the accuracy about like 2-5%, which is mediocre....
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 10:26:42 am
oof. well, a ~50% hit rate is certainly much more reliable than a ~25% hit rate. If Eternal wants Adelle to be another high risk high reward unit, then Adelle will greatly appreciate every % boost she can get for Viola.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 10:34:49 am
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 10:26:42 am
oof. well, a ~50% hit rate is certainly much more reliable than a ~25% hit rate. If Eternal wants Adelle to be another high risk high reward unit, then Adelle will greatly appreciate every % boost she can get for Viola.


Yeah that would be nice, however that's just for normal accuracy though, debuff accuracy has it's own % chances like if it had "x1 debuff" to an enemy, it'll rely on that enemies "Resilience" stat and each enemy for that stat varies differently based on jobs they have on (Monsters also have jobs as well, heh), so Viola could in theory be more accurate or less accurate on enemies using the "x1 debuff" accuracy modifier, it could make the ability more on ultilty to get rid of enemies that would be weak to it, or be useless to enemies that are resistant to it, and Resilience can be increased or lowered to change the accuracy rating similar to accuracy with "Evasion".

So pretty much Eternal has a lot of interesting ways he can make Adelle's job unique in a sense. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 10:41:37 am
that's very interesting! (and good to know for when I might eventually start making mods of my own haha)
Little details like that certainly gives Eternal a good number of ways to make Adelle shine like the special snowflake she is XD

by the by, how would one go about patching these mods onto clean roms on mobile? my previous attempts at rom patching used a couple different apps and using a Chr*no Tr-gger mod and resulted in very obscure glitches, such as having near maximum defense value at Lv.1 and being unable to hit enemies with normal attacks.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 11:03:56 am
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 10:41:37 am
that's very interesting! (and good to know for when I might eventually start making mods of my own haha)
Little details like that certainly gives Eternal a good number of ways to make Adelle shine like the special snowflake she is XD

by the by, how would one go about patching these mods onto clean roms on mobile? my previous attempts at rom patching used a couple different apps and using a Chr*no Tr-gger mod and resulted in very obscure glitches, such as having near maximum defense value at Lv.1 and being unable to hit enemies with normal attacks.


Sadly i don't know anything about patching roms on Mobile, sorry.
There are some members here that do i think.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 11:08:18 am
It's okay :)
I can probably work around it by patching it on my PC, then transfer it to my mobile's SD card.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 11:25:46 am
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 11:08:18 am
It's okay :)
I can probably work around it by patching it on my PC, then transfer it to my mobile's SD card.


:0 I'm thinking of doing the same thing but for a r4i to play my FFTA2 mod on my 3DS since i don't get the same enjoyment from Vanilla FFTA2 as much i did before, heh....
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 11:58:58 am
hrmm... I've been trying to patch Eternal's beta of FFTA to get a feel for tsukuyomi before tackling FFTA2, but it keeps failing to patch. something about the checksum being invalid :? I'm not sure what's going wrong, seeing as i made a clean copy of my FFTA rom file. Plus his rom is invisible to other rom patchers, such as Lunar.Ips, so I'm at a loss of how to patch it in.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: R000ster on May 19, 2018, 12:05:01 pm
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 11:08:18 am
It's okay :)
I can probably work around it by patching it on my PC, then transfer it to my mobile's SD card.

Mobile-only user here, I use an application called "Unipatcher". Simple to use, you just designate the rom file, patch you want to apply, and what you want the resulting file to be called. Should be free on Google Play store, I can't speak for Apple unfortunately.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 12:09:58 pm
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 11:58:58 am
hrmm... I've been trying to patch Eternal's beta of FFTA to get a feel for tsukuyomi before tackling FFTA2, but it keeps failing to patch. something about the checksum being invalid :? I'm not sure what's going wrong, seeing as i made a clean copy of my FFTA rom file. Plus his rom is invisible to other rom patchers, such as Lunar.Ips, so I'm at a loss of how to patch it in.


Not sure about that, but i've sent you a PM for something, hopefully that works.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 12:53:09 pm
@R000ster thank you for directing me to UniPatcher! however when I try to patch FFTA2-GG onto a clean file of FFTA2, it says the rom file is incompatible and should be "unpacked in an external program." What does this mean and how do I solve it?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 12:56:00 pm
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 12:53:09 pm
@R000ster thank you for directing me to UniPatcher! however when I try to patch FFTA2-GG onto a clean file of FFTA2, it says the rom file is incompatible and should be "unpacked in an external program." What does this mean and how do I solve it?


Oh you meant FFTA2, disregard the PM then, you have to use a USA rom of FFTA2, i'm not sure what you mean by "external program" since i can patch FFTA2 GG just fine, although i didn't use Lunar ips.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 12:59:12 pm
The PM was super helpful, anyhow. thank you for it :)

I don't get what it means by that either, since that what it says in a pop-up window it makes whenever i select the FFTA2 Rom file :?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Zeke_Aileron on May 19, 2018, 01:18:14 pm
Quote from: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 12:59:12 pm
The PM was super helpful, anyhow. thank you for it :)

I don't get what it means by that either, since that what it says in a pop-up window it makes whenever i select the FFTA2 Rom file :?


Ah, you're welcome.

Also for the GG patch, i used NUPS (https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/606/) to patch Eternal's GG to my clean FFTA2 rom, hopefully that helps, if you still get the same problem than it's most likely the rom then...
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on May 19, 2018, 02:28:22 pm
I tried NUPS, but the patch wasn't applied. I don't know what would be wrong with the ROM File, but I'll try again some other day.

Thanks for all the help! :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: DenisColli on June 21, 2018, 02:01:09 am
Hello friends! I was reading that skills like Parley or Dragon Tamer normaly using the "Remove" Accurace to hit tend to loose 2% of hit rate for each foe you have killed.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on June 23, 2018, 10:50:20 am
Hey guys! It's been a while! Now that I'm finished with my FFXII mod, I'm back and dedicated to working on A2 again. There've been a bunch of tools released since the last update- namely a formation editor. To that end, I'm finishing up with the new jobs and will be working on editing each formation now. I expect it'll be a tedious process, so it'll probably be a bit, but I'm excited to be back at it and able to edit all the things we can edit now!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: MountainDew~ on June 28, 2018, 04:25:05 pm
Please, I can only get so erect.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: grassmudhorses on July 22, 2018, 12:18:24 am
Time to eagerly start waiting again!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 14, 2018, 11:36:48 pm
Great news! The Slayer and Judicer jobs are nearly done. Judicer just needs animations. I think I'll release an update without formation changes (since it's been a while), and then work on formations for the next update thereafter. Thanks for all of your patience, everyone!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on August 15, 2018, 12:23:18 am
Thanks for your continued work on this!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 15, 2018, 12:45:28 am
Of course! I enjoy doing it. As a reward for the patience you guys have shown, I decided to throw in an additional new job for the next update. Not only will you guys be getting the Slayer and Judicer, but you'll also be getting...

Introducing, the Vampyr!

https://imgur.com/a/Uw1X646

Yes! There'll not only be Moogle Belmonts, but there'll be vampires for those Moogle Belmonts to slay! I'm working out the specifics, but the Vampyr will be replacing the (very boring) Hunter job, for both Humes and Gria.

Vampyrs focus on a few simple things- staying the heck out of an enemy's range of attack and storing up blood/HP for their Demonic Megido attack. Demonic Megido is slated to damage enemies equal to the user's current HP. However, upon unleashing that attack, the user's HP will be drained all the way back down to 1. Meaning that you won't be able to spam it unless you're healed up, but if you use it at full HP, you're able to do a lot of damage, very quickly.

This is where the Vampyr's other gimmick comes in. The Vampyr can either use Soul Steal to drain HP from a distant enemy or they can Feed on a non-human enemy, dealing increased damage and therefore absorbing more HP. To that end, you'll want to keep enemy monsters around to Feed off of, allowing them to quickly regenerate their HP for Demonic Megido. To keep themselves alive, they can use Daze to Charm an opposite-gendered enemy, or Lifepawn to force allies to Cover. Will you be able to master this horrible night?

Their current proposed skillset:

VAMPYR
Skillset: Vitiate

HELLFIRE
Launch a ball of demonic flame at the enemy and teleport both the foe and the user away.
       
DAZE
Infatuates an opposite target with one's eyes.

FEED
Drain the blood of the living, dealing increased damage to monsters and absorbs their HP.

SOUL STEAL
Drains a foe's HP and MP.

MEGIDO
Unleash an explosion fueled by one's soul, dealing damage equal to the user's HP, but reducing HP to 1.

SUMMON SPIRIT
Damage an enemy from afar with perfect accuracy..

LIFEPAWN
Hypnotize an ally, coercing them to take damage for the user in its stead.

METAMORPH
The user enters a state of demonic rest, bestowing REGEN and HASTE, but DISABLING them.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: TerrageneX on August 15, 2018, 03:22:48 am
How does LIFEPAWN work? I mean, technically? Is it, like, reverse Cover or something?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 15, 2018, 09:00:28 am
I would need to test it, but yeah, it's basically reverse Cover. The unit would be bestowing Cover on an ally instead of itself.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: chocolatemoose on August 15, 2018, 12:09:59 pm
One question about Megido: does it divide the unit's HP damage over the enemy units, or does it deal full HP damage to each enemy unit? If the latter, if you assume that the unit's HP is similar to the enemies', then wouldn't the skill be really overpowered?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 15, 2018, 12:15:21 pm
Great question! The formula would have to deal damage equal to the user's HP, so it wouldn't be able to be divided up. To ensure things don't get too crazy though, I think it's going to end up being 1 Range, 1 AoE (since the caster would have to be caught in the AoE for the Reduce to 1 HP Effect to hit themselves), so positioning would have to be very precise and it would likely consume MP. The other thought is to make their HP on the lower side, making it a good secondary skillset for higher HP jobs. I would vastly prefer it to be a large, 2 AoE skill (like Ultima), but I think that'd just be too broken. It'll all come down to testing and, honestly, if it's a little overpowered at first, I'm not completely averse to that as long as everything is fun, but this is the current plan.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on August 15, 2018, 03:27:32 pm
Oh nice! a new Job! Looks like it's gonna be super fun to use!

Might I ask if you plan on revamping or replacing Blue Mage? Or just leaving it alone?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on August 15, 2018, 04:05:24 pm
Probably not. I'm really only revamping jobs that weren't particularly interesting, and Blue Mage is already pretty interesting.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on August 15, 2018, 04:11:56 pm
Alrighty! Can't wait to see what other incredible ideas you come up with for this mod!  :D

EDIT:
Oh that reminds me! If you replaced Beastmaster, perhaps you could give Blue Mages some way to force the Monsters to use their Learnable attacks? And perhaps you could also buff several of their abilities, since a good chunk of them aren't particularly useful (Bad Breath got nerfed big time from FF:TA). Though with non-regenerating MP, Matra Magic now has a new use for replenishing your mages' MP, and can still be used to murder foes with low MP or foes drained of all MP.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Kuro on September 16, 2018, 01:25:19 pm
Hey, that Vampyr had interesting ideas. To be honest, I'm particularly curious about the Lifepawn skill. Do you know how to reverse the effect? Because I wanted something similar for my Lanista and Block! I think it matches his essence xD But so far I didn't get results, if it hits to self it gives both Cover and Covered.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: SoloCross on October 11, 2018, 02:03:57 pm
'sup Eternal. Could you reupload the modding suite please?
The sendspace link is dead.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on October 11, 2018, 11:39:03 pm
Hey there! No problem. I'm going to host it on Mega.nz- hopefully that one won't expire as quickly. Link below.

https://mega.nz/#!eXBSTARS!Thplwc6Y98q7huTx-0nvP0tSdHFE5sZ6-9jTotOG5J0
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: SoloCross on October 12, 2018, 01:40:09 am
Yeah, MEGA links last pretty much forever as far as I know. Thanks!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: snowday on October 18, 2018, 04:47:14 pm
Very excited for this, would love to help out in testing in any way I can.

Also, about the Vampyr, obviously this is your creative project and you should do exactly what you want with it, but in FFV advance there was a Necromancer. I thought maybe that name would be more fitting to hold true to the FF series, but I fully understand wanting to add your own touch!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on October 18, 2018, 07:18:54 pm
Necromancer exists in this mod already. :)

They're playable in the current version and are partially based off of Necromancers from Tactics Ogre. Feel free to give 'em a try!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: snowday on October 18, 2018, 09:43:47 pm
Just read through the changes on the first post, although outdated, looks great!

One thing I'm wondering, I understand the removal of the Ultima skills since they were really strong but, any other way to reuse that animation somewhere as a different skill? It was really cool. Same for magick frenzy, doublecast, etc. would be nice to see these nerfed rather than removed entirely. (Maybe doublecasted spells only have 75% of their normal accuracy?)

I haven't played the original FFTA2 since the year it was released where I played the crap out of it, but here are the things I remember disliking:

-Overall difficulty was too just too damn easy
-Gil becomes pretty frivolous, this happened in FFT and FFTA as well though.
-Too easy to abuse auctions
-Goes for all FFT games, but I dislike how unique characters sprites/portraits don't change based on their job. Obviously that would take a lot of work, probably not in your department either, but I think that would be an amazing addition to the game.
- not enough random rewards. Each playthrough you end up with the same stuff, it would be interesting if each battle had a chance for a rare item or random loot, causing you to build your characters differently each playthrough.
- I liked the FFTA story and characters better  :mrgreen:

Its difficult since I don't have much of an idea for what is currently possible for the game in terms of hacking/editing, but man I've so many ideas for new classes and mechanics over the years. This style of game has so much potential and it makes me so sad square just kinda gave up on it, glad people are keeping it alive here!
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on October 19, 2018, 10:15:22 am
Ultima's animation is indeed used, so no worries about that! Magick Frenzy and Doublecast do still exist in somewhat varying forms as well. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: kylelopezwms on November 27, 2018, 05:50:14 pm
Are monsters catch/playable? I loved this feature in the first game, but each subsequent release, the monsters have been getting snubbed more and more T-T
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: kobzord on December 01, 2018, 07:36:19 am
Hi there,

Sorry to ask, but I see that the last patch is dated as 2016, yet your comments shows news from 2018.
Is there another patch version besides the 0.7?

Thanks and keep up the good work!
-Kob
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Blue Mage Fanatic on December 02, 2018, 10:56:27 pm
@ kylelopezwms
I highly doubt Eternal will do anything with Monsters beyond altering their stats and skills. I don't know if it's even possible to make Monsters recruitable since there isn't even a Capture command/function within Tactics A2. It kinda sucks, but that's just how it be.

Plus it'd be a wasted function since your party members will almost always be stronger than monsters in terms of raw stats thanks to equipment, and have extreme flexibility with Job Combinations and being able to freely mix and match passive skills. No reason at all to go through the hassle of even attempting to implement the feature, really.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Gonzool on October 09, 2019, 04:56:56 pm
Excuse me, is this project still alive? I just wanted to know, since I was considering helping with betatesting.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Eternal on October 09, 2019, 11:28:01 pm
Hey Gonzool, I'm still working on it, yes. Lately I've been working on FFXII modding, which has taken up what little free time I have. However, I'm basically done with my FFXII project (minus some future updates) and I'm working on re-examining this mod and continuing work on it. My FFXII project was serious, so I'm looking forward to getting back to working on the fun, non-serious jobs in this mod. :P
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Gonzool on October 10, 2019, 05:06:40 pm
Oh that's good to hear! Your mod seems really innovative. Take your time. Meanwhile, I'll test the latest patch. :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Jigi on May 17, 2020, 01:02:42 pm
Hey Eternal, any update on this?
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: maroon on October 15, 2020, 05:52:55 am
have a new update yet
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: choogiesaur on November 19, 2020, 10:33:18 am
Hi,

Just wondering if the version in the OP is the latest version? Or is the latest download elsewhere?

Cheers :)
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: DifficultSession on December 01, 2020, 08:06:18 am
Is there something weird with the EXP gain in this mod?

Normally if you fight enemies that are below the level of your clan mates you get an EXP penalty but it seems like even if I'm 20 levels above them I get the same base 60 XP rate per battle. This causes some strange quirks like the level of my team having a wild level range of level 40s with level 25s for example. It never evens out due to the lack of this penalty. Is this intentional?

I've been enjoying the mod so far though and the new changes to the classes are definitely some fun flavour.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Toang on January 09, 2021, 04:00:11 pm
Hi,I really like your mod and you worked hard to make it.
I just started modding and trying all the tools in Current List of FFTA2 Editors and Modules,but it seems very limited.
So can you show me how to use and access hex to mod it.Tks u.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: matchet on February 23, 2021, 12:37:27 pm
Someday, grim grimoire will reach v1.0 and get all planned stuff done, all fixable bugs and crashes if any, solved. Or at least I'm a very patient (or at least a faithful naive) person.

For now what is achieved is memorable at its least, and can only applaud Eternal for his continuous hard work through the years, and hopipng him for not losing his motivation on this awesome project
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Crashmstr on September 07, 2021, 01:52:41 pm
Hey there! FFTA2 is one of, if not my favorite game of all time and I don't know why I didn't think about possible hacks to replay the game before but here I am!
It's awesome to see you still working on this, and I'm sure you've heard this a lot, but I was curious to know what the progress towards 1.0 was. As far as I can see, .7 is still the latest version?

What you're doing looks awesome and I really look forward to what the next release will bring so I can try it out.
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: steffanb on September 28, 2021, 07:41:49 pm
Thanks a lot. I'll try it out
Title: Re: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16
Post by: Bonesy on October 01, 2021, 01:19:59 am
considering Eternal has not posted here in two years you may be SOL